Valean Safehouse
by The95will
Summary: With Jaune's life, he has been though a lot of things and lives with the same amount of it as well. He lives alone, doesn't have any friends, and people don't talk to him much. It makes him the ideal candidate to have his home forcibly claimed by the government for it be a Safehouse. He must tend to the needs of all who visit and he can't say anything against it.
1. Chapter 1, The Agent

**Thank you for checking out this story. It's something I wanted to get out of my head before I could forget it.**

There was a nice misty smell of gasoline in the air, while a young man walked home. The City of Vale had a scent to it. It was potent on some while it wasn't on others. He could always smell it as he walked home.

It was the usual routine to avoid human contact and to just get home. In the young man's hands, were four bags of groceries. In could be considered the typical stuff, milk, potato chips, a couple of soda bottles, apples and chocolate powder for the milk.

The bags wrinkled along his palms on the journey. The young man looked around to see several street venders out and about. Their metal or wooden stands to display their food and wares. Most smiled, they lie through their teeth to butter up the customers. The young man didn't care much for it. The only vender he trusted was Old Man Howitzer. The man loved to keep his eyes closed most the time and didn't speak that much. He owned a small dust shop, a noodle stand, and a delivery business. At his age, Howitzer must have had some serious knowledge under his belt. The young man respected him for it.

It wasn't that he hated people; he just didn't interact with them very well. It usually turned to a lopsided conversation, or he would embarrass himself in some way. There wasn't much point in trying anymore.

On his walk home, he noticed a large video billboard. It plastered the images of the 'news'. Several criminals were running around town. The Grimm are a growing issue. And what people should have to buy for their relatives to contribute to capitalism that the kingdoms encouraged. The new NEW item that one must have otherwise you're stupid. It was the usual fear mongering and the commercialism that made Vale work the way it did. The young man didn't pay much attention to it.

"Hey mister." A voice called out.

The young man looked around and noticed a kid walk up to him. She looked about 9 years old. Her face was completely round with a button nose. She tilted her head to the left to amplify her cuteness factor. ' _Like I'm buying that routine_ ,' the young man thought.

"Mister, can you please spare some food?" She questioned as she reached her hand out. The young man looked at it. Her hand had several cuts and a bruise near the thumb. Several dark smudge marks were at her fingertips. There wasn't any way for the young man to say no.

He took a deep breath, kneeled down and set his bag on the concrete so he could reach inside it. He took out a small yellow apple to see the little girl run off with the bag. It was full of crackers, chips and a candy bar. The young man watched her run across the street. With every step he heard her pant. The girl didn't bother to look back while the young man put the apple on the ground. It shone in the light. He picked up the bags he had left and continued the walk to his house.

With every step he grumbled to himself. This often happened because the young man couldn't say no to people. It was common for him, to be taken advantage of in moments of kindness. The young man stared at the sidewalk for the rest of his journey home.

Vale was a well-developed city. The job market was always expanding. After people asked about work, they went on the waiting list to see if there was a small chance of a job. The young man heard about it all the time. Not a day went by that someone wouldn't complain about the walls. It wasn't a big deal to him, because he worked full time at an ice cream store… as a cashier. The job wasn't horrible, after all, it provided him with enough income to sustain his lifestyle.

The people were generally nice in the city. When people looked at him, he just gave them a smile and didn't say a word. Then he'd continue with what he was doing.

After 20 minutes of walking, the young man reached his house. It was just a regular house with an old paint job. The young man could only assume it was some kind of blue that had faded to grey. Along the sidewalk, the young man checked his mail box. Nothing. The young man proceeded to the second floor. The crooked path to his porch had several weeds spouting out of the cracks. He usually cleaned it after every other week or so but it was low on his list of priorities.

The house itself was a two floor home. One floor on ground level, along with a basement. His home had gone through several renovations in the last couple of months. He walked to the front door; he put his hand on the knob and twisted it…

He pushed the door open. "You left the front door unlocked again."

"So what, Jaune?" A woman's voice called back. "It's not like no one else is coming by. Oh yeah before I forget, you're out of milk."

Jaune Arc rolled his eyes. He entered the house. It had a small entrance with three doorways to span into different parts of the house. The bags rustled on his walk to the kitchen. Everything in the kitchen was brand new. The oven, refrigerator, and microwave had a silver square shape to it. The floor was retiled into white hexagons. The table was something out of a furniture store display. It was lovely kitchen, but none of it actually belonged to him. He placed the grocery bags on the table.

"Wow, you're on top of things this time. What's the occasion?" The woman's voice said around the corner.

"You just caught me on a decent day." Jaune replied as he opened the bags.

"Hmm?" The woman stuck her head around the corner.

"Good evening." Jaune said. He opened a cabinet to put in three can foods. It was just black beans.

"Evening." The woman walked away from the corner to look over Jaune's shoulder. She was in her mid-twenties, slim, ashen-black hair and bright amber eyes. She wore a V-neck mid dress that had a golden lines that intertwined at the sleeves and drifted along the neck region and met at the center of the neck line. She had fair pale skin that her hair drew in contrast too but in a good fashion. At her neck, she wore a black choker necklace. She blinked at him as he walked past her.

On the table, Jaune had apple soda and other assorted foods.

"How did your day go?" He asked when he opened the refrigerator door.

"Stopped an assassination of some important political figure." She responded, "You?" She uncapped a soda and began to drink.

"There was a guy who wanted a snow cone when we only do ice cream." Jaune shrugged. After a minute, he finished putting the food away.

"Sounds exciting." The woman replied in a cold tone before she took another sip of her soda. Her name was Cinder Fall. She was an agent that worked in the Valean Government. Well trained most forms of combat and looked good while doing it.

"It was. Did you get the food I place on the table for this afternoon?" Jaune opened his phone to see he had no messages. It was nothing groundbreaking every time he checked.

"I did. You know I don't like fast food."

"It was the best I could do in such short notice. That's why I had to go grocery shopping." It wasn't that Jaune wanted to talk of excuses. Dust knows how often he tried to in the past.

"Fine then. I will be here for twelve hours at a time." Cinder pointed out before she left the kitchen. "When will dinner be ready?"

"About an hour. You can play my XStation 5 while you wait. I also rented some movies a couple of days ago." He called out.

"Fine, but I'm going to take a nap." Cinder replied. "Wake me up when it's ready."

"Sure."

Jaune rubbed his eyes. He opened another cabinet to get some pots and pans out. Cinder Fall was in his home was because it was claimed by the Valean Government. Four months earlier, Jaune unknowingly helped an agent escape a serious danger. When it was all over, Jaune had only three choices; disappear to the other side of Remnant, be killed by the government, or become an employee. Jaune couldn't offer any kind of significant service to them, so his home had been turned into a Safe House. Whenever an official agent needed somewhere to stay in the city of Vale, they came and invaded Jaune's house.

As an employee, Jaune had to see to their needs as well as he could. His home was given many utilities so carry out his new job. His payment for taking care of each agent was 2.50 lien an hour.

Jaune walked to the radio at the kitchen counter and turned it on.

" _There has been a loss of rations on the Emerald Forest front as soldiers from Atlas continue to liberate the region of White Fang rebels. The death toll is expected to be at 239."_

Jaune stared at a pot and waited for the water.

" _Meanwhile in Vale, General Ironwood has made his presence known to the public of mentioning the growing efforts of the Atlasian Military to end the current conflict swiftly."_

The water started to boil and Jaune walked to the counter to open a small box of pasta ties. He poured the box in and gently stirred the ties in the water.

" _In other news, the Mistralan superstar Pyrrha Nikos has taken first place in the world renowned Hunter's Tournament for the third year in a row. He took part in a prolonged match with second lead contender Ruby Rose. The two fought each other for an amazing eight minutes. It was a close call but Ms. Nikos won out by seven points. Isn't that just amazing?"_

Jaune looked back to the stove; it was warm enough for him to work on the next meal.

" _Several frantic news crews sought out the World Prodigy for an exclusive recorded interview."_

Jaune pulled a small piece of dough from the fridge and began to roll it out.

" _Miss Nikos."_ The reporter was obviously a woman. Jaune paid little attention as the reporter repeated Pyrrha's accomplishments. He added some carrots, tomatoes, and pasta sauce to the dough.

" _Thank you madam."_ Pyrrha replied. Just by her tone, one could guess that the champion smiled for them.

" _At 23 years_ _old you're already_ _considered to be one of the Best Huntresses of your generation. Along with that there has been overwhelming support for you ever since you first took the title of World Champion. How do you feel?"_

" _Fantastic,_ _I'm_ _just so amazed at what I was able to accomplish within my lifetime."_

The interview continued for several minutes more of the same redundant questions of Pyrrha being the winner and avoided several harsh questions that would make her seem like a bad person. Jaune hovered over the stove as he listened.

" _Is there any message you want to send to anyone special?"_ The reporter laughed.

" _Why yes. Thank you for all of your support of me since the beginning, you've been there for me during the bad times and made even better good times. Just with you, I feel like I can accomplish even more. This message goes out to my boyfriend, Spencer Trost. I love you."_ Jaune winced.

" _Isn't that precio-"_ Jaune's index finger slid away from the radio. For the next thirty minutes, he cooked in silence.

When he finished, Jaune walked to the guest bedroom. He opened the door and saw an empty bed, neatly made. On the floor there were two bags that were usually carried by Jaune's most common guest. He walked to his own room and brushed the door aside. In the center of the room he saw Cinder hugging a pillow as if it were a small animal.

"Cinder." He called.

"Cinder." He said again, louder this time.

"CINDER!" He shouted.

Before Jaune could take a step back, the black abyss of a gun pointed directly at the center of his chest. All Jaune could hear was the sound of his heartbeat over everything else. Cinder stared at him with tired eyes.

"You _stupid_ asshole!"

"… Din…ner's… ready…" The blonde boy stammered.

"Ugh. Why didn't you say so?" Cinder yawned which caused her to lower her gun. It was a Five-Seven pistol. Jaune wasn't too fond of the thought that he could've had a few extra holes in him.

"Fine. I'll be out in a few minutes." She rubbed her eye with her wrist. Her hand was still holding the gun.

"No rush." Jaune's heart rate had slowed down. He walked out of the room.

' _This sucks!_ ' He thought. From the last few weeks of this new job, Jaune had a variety of people come by his home. Usually they were the quiet types that didn't ask much, while other times several agents like Cinder Fall would come and lay claim on his life. Every one of them found some way to annoy Jaune to no end. Cinder's favorite thing to do was claim Jaune's room and bed during her visits.

"Ugh." He groaned to himself as he walked down the main hallway.

' _This is my life now._ ' Jaune thought as he walked into his kitchen to get the plates ready.

 **Well this is just the introduction to the story. I don't have an update schedule but I'll work on this story along with my other ones. So when you finish reading this, please voice your thoughts in a review. Thanks again for reading and have an excellent day.**

 **Also, special thanks to Teekay Staples for editing this chapter. I enjoy working with you.**


	2. Chapter 2, A Crap Evening

**Wow, just wow. I never expected for this story to grow so much from just the introduction. I expected for there to be 5 followers at most by the end of the first week. I forgot to mention in the previous chaptet that this story will also have Action and Drama to it, along with the current listed genres. Well let's continue shall we?**

 _THUMP. THUMP_.

Jaune opened his plate cabinet to take two disposable plates out to use. It was dark blue with a tree of a pure golden color to it. It was just a reference to mark the end of the Hundred Year War. The Golden Tree that provided a refuge for those who didn't want to be part of the conflict. Golden for the hope of those who would be under its care. It didn't play out for the refugees in the end. Still, symbols matter to some degree.

 _THUMP. THUMP._

 _Thump. Thump._

He closed his eyelids to allow the darkness to help him concentrate then took a long deep breath. It was enough to calm him down from earlier. Jaune opened his eyes to see Cinder at the corner of the kitchen staring at him with her right eyebrow raised. Jaune blinked his eyes at her.

"That was just a force of habit." Cinder claimed in order to break the silence. "Also, I think you're covered for health care if something happened."

"Cool, that's great but they don't even cover dental." Jaune moaned as the tilted his head to the right.

"Really? If you ask the agency, I'm sure you could work something out with the proper phone call."

"I'll keep that in mind." He lifted his shoulders for a shrug. "So, do you even keep that gun loaded?"

Cinder lowered her head and stared blankly at Jaune.

"Stupid question I know… just for next time; I'll just use a stick or something." Jaune split the plates apart. He placed the plates on the counter while he pulled out kitchen drawer for him to get two plastic forks.

"Use at your own discretion." Cinder walked toward the stove to get a look at her meal. "What did you cook?"

"Veggie calzones and some Spaghetti with pasta sauce." Jaune walked along the counter to take out a large dish out utensils. Jaune glanced to his window then thought about using the radio. He look away as the radio's earlier messages echoed in his head. Over and over…

"Not what I prefer but alright." Cinder shrugged.

'… _You're welcome..._ ' Jaune thought while he scooped out the first calzone for Cinder's plate. Along the plate, Jaune dipped for a tiny smidge of pasta sauce then lightly smothered the calzone in it. He held out the plate for Cinder. She took hold of it but didn't show an immediate reaction to it.

"You know, there's this place downtown that can make some of the best Mistralan food. I think the name was…" Jaune could hear Cinder talk in the background while he tuned her out.

' _I wonder if the Freelancers won the Grifball Championship last week. Michael J. Caboose will probably make MVP again .'_ Jaune thought while he served himself. The plate was pretty full because tonight, he didn't want to store the leftovers. The people who come over always… always wanted to have fresh food than what was stored from the fridge.

"-the server there usually likes to think it's smooth to comment on a woman's eyes." Cinder said as she sat down at the table.

"Cool cool." Jaune repeated by reflex.

"Did you hear a word I said?" Cinder looked at Jaune.

"There's this awesome place downtown. The name is Remnant Diamondtastes; the place usually has a set waiting list for several days if called in advance. There is a waiter named Ramón that likes to comment on the eyes of all of his customers, more specifically women." Jaune played back all without the need to think much about it.

Cinder stared at Jaune as he placed his plate at the table. "So what else is there about you wanted to say about Diamondtastes?"

"I said all I wanted to." She shook her head as she twirled her wrist for the spaghetti noodles. The red sauce rolled off the golden brown strands as Cinder brought her fork in for a bite.

Jaune's fork was ready to impale a calzone. "Oh yeah. What was his name?" He delve into his mind for several seconds. "A guy named 'Tukson' came by to drop off a box that belongs to you. It's in the spare bedroom for you."

Cinder nodded to Jaune while she chewed her food.

"Another thing you should know is that the new dead drop location will be at his store, Tukson's Book Trade. Its downtown, off the corner of Wade Street and Master Road." Jaune stabbed his calzone. "A letter from your superiors will be in a book named the 'Silver Diamond Killer, book 2.'" Jaune took a bite.

Cinder swallowed her food. "Good, that porn store last month was creepy."

Jaune did the same. "Wait, the last place you had a dead drop was in a porn store?"

"Indeed it was, every time I went there, all the customers would stare at me and occasional stalker would try to follow me." Cinder started to curl up more spaghetti. "Speaking of porn, for a guy who lives alone, I would have expected that you would have an entire treasure chest rather than just one magazine that's a few years old."

Jaune choked on his food as he pounded his chest several times. "How would you know that?"

"I looked through your things. Too many kitten calendars and old gamer magazines…" Then it struck Cinder. "Oh I get it, you're not interested in the women on this plane of existence? Is that it?"

"Oh dust. Can we please talk about something else?" Jaune asked while he took a bite of spaghetti.

"Whatever." Cinder rolled her eyes. It was obvious that he ruined the fun. "So, there's the black bag with the red hand to it. I need you to wash my clothes and prep the table downstairs."

"The desk is already prepped; just leave the black bag outside of the room." Jaune said before he continued with his meal. "Oh by the way. Can I have my room back?"

"No promises." Cinder shot back before she continued to eat her meal.

"These calzones aren't half bad."

"Thanks… I guess. Given your work, I thought you might need something that's a little more nutritious than on the go food." Jaune noticed Cinder chew on her food rather slowly.

"You think you could make something with a bit more meat next time? I still live by taste as much as the next sensible human being."

"Well bitching about the food isn't part of my job description." Jaune said before he took a bite of more spaghetti. "So it requires one special little word."

"I would say 'now' but I don't feel like it." Cinder knew that would annoy Jaune.

"Just say it with me. 'Please.' It's not that hard, just let it roll off your tongue. I know you can do it. PLA… EASE." Jaune smiled at the end. "It's easy."

"I wonder how well you'll be able cook next time without a second arm."

"Gee. When you put it like it sucks the fun out it…" Jaune remembered something important. "By the way, how's he doing?" Jaune got the real question that was at the back of his mind.

"He's fine, the doctor told me that his collar bone should be able to reconnect soon as well as his bullet wounds don't need that many bandages anymore. " Cinder said before she continued with her meal. Half of her plate was finished.

"Great." Jaune recalled the night that nearly got him killed on multiple occasions. There was a lot of blood, bullets, and running. It was way way too close for comfort when he helped the agent that night. Sure he was bleeding out on the sidewalk, but what else could Jaune do besides pick him up and take him home for treatment? ' _Ah well, at least it's in the past now._ '

"He's making a full recovery all right? Can you stop asking me about it now?" Cinder asked while she looked toward the TV. "You rent anything good?"

"Well the movies I rented were 'The Dawn of Despair' and Diamond Mercenaries 2.'"

"How's the despair one?"

"It sucks, the reason being that I don't like the main actor that much. The idea was cool but the execution was done terribly. The whole thing was about how some lame blanket was able to make people experience freaky visions." Jaune looked at the ceiling. "I only watched Diamond Mercenaries halfway and stopped around the time you gave me your heads up. It was alright from what I could remember."

"That's right. There's something else I need you to take care of." Cinder said something as Jaune looked back at the table. "I need this cleaned off and sharpened. I almost lost it when the blade wouldn't pull out fast enough." On the table was a small red and silver switchblade on the table. On it was a golden crest in the shape of shield. It formed a shield but that looped around where the handle clasps together, the center of the switchblade had a heart shape within the shield. The design of it was pretty bare bones.

"Sure, just leave it here and I'll take care of it."

"Good." Cinder said as she walked to the stove to take a small second helping of food. Jaune minded his own business while she walked into the living room to turn on the DVD player. It took about five minutes before Jaune finished his meal.

When he place his plate in the trash can. Jaune made a quick trip the guest bedroom then walked to the basement door and down the staircase. He reached the bottom of it and flicked a switch. The light in the center revealed the room. All around were several black stands to hold onto various weapons. Mostly sniper rifles, pistols, and SMGs. Along the west wall was an array of suits meant for those who would come by to the house. On the east wall was a washer and dryer with four laundry baskets stacked on top of each other. Jaune dropped the bag he had from the main guest room then opened it.

Inside Jaune noticed a black undershirt that looked to has several open holes around the shoulders. ' _Must've been from a knife fight_ ' Jaune held the in front of himself as he inspected it more. When he spent enough time starting at it, Jaune noticed the several darkened patches around the shirt. Blood stains can be clothing's worse nightmare, but not for the agency Cinder works for. Normally it would take several hours to clean out but the stuff those who work for them, the clothes can normally be washed out. Jaune closed the hatch to the washer.

Jaune took out more of Cinder's belongings that she wants Jaune to take care from the bag as he walked the other end of the room. The knife was next on the agenda. On the weapons rack, Jaune has a designated place where he normally places his blade sharpener. He usually had to clean it off with a cloth then wipe it down from the germs and other possible contaminants with some chemicals Jaune kept in a box. It was usually a long process but he's technically on the clock, ' _Better hop to it_.'

Right before Jaune started to work on the knife, his scroll rang.

"Hello?"

Meanwhile in Downtown Vale

A thirty year old woman in a grey suit with a white collared undershirt stood at a corner of a street to use the walkway. Her name was Abigail Durant. She has black hair, a round face, while her forehead was hidden by low hanging bangs. From her frame, she appeared to be in ideal physical health. She's mostly compassionate, focuses on her work, and she used her job as a receptionist to issue deals with rather dangerous people.

She was no longer standing from the street.

She works for a shipping company.

During her time at Harmen's Conglomerate of their shipping manifests, Abigail would craft documents to travel all over the world of Remnant. From the simple person movement to smuggling small caches of weapons on Tankers that went along the trade routes of the oceans. After doing it successfully for two years, Abigail made enough money to sustain herself for the rest of her life.

…

Which will be over in about the next thirty seconds… give or take.

…

"Please, you don't have to do this!" Abigail pleaded.

It was rather difficult for the police to even obtain the correct amount of information to have Abigail be hunted down and arrested. She's too careful in her work by keeping written records than digital ones. Even then, she would dispose of them from chemicals to erode the paperwork.

"I can pay you."

With someone doing something like this to undermine the current system of the government. For you see, six months earlier before the current White Fang uprising, Abigail unknowingly smuggled several caches of guns to Vale. Which the White Fang paid in cash, then took it their various bases in the region to help train the new recruits they gathered.

"Just accept this with dignity." A male voice responded. Then it happened, it was strange, the first thing Abigail noticed was how the stars looked so beautiful and then her view was obstructed by three skyscrapers that only grew in size.

Gravity makes for such a convenient excuse for those who just can't _cope_ with the world Remnant. Just two years before, Abigail was the ideal woman who helped at her workplace. No would have known that since she broke her arm, that Abigail would become addicted to painkillers. A façade of how she behaved at work. Such a shame when she'll be discovered with illegal dust manufactured painkillers. Just another person who couldn't _cope_.

From above, a lone figure looked away from his work. It was rather easy to set off the security for the right amount of time of 8 minutes. The figure was dressed in a black suit with a grey undershirt. With every step, the figure started to adjust his clothes to look presentable again. It didn't matter at all, but the life as a hit man, every one of them must have standards.

The rooftop doorway opened up and the figure walked down two floors then entered the 8th floor. For the building, it's no surprise that the security needed to be updated from how often it would glitch out from the past three weeks. It took five minutes of constant walking down numerous halls and stairs for the figure to reach the garage. His footsteps echoed until he reached his car, entered it, and then started it.

34 minutes later.

 _KNOCK KNOCK_.

The door opened up to reveal a young man with blonde hair.

"Oh, you must be Fox. Come on in."

 **Another chapter down. Yay me! (I notice people staring at me.) Awkward… I guess I'll focus much more on this story than I intentionally thought, thank you so much for reading and to please review. If you will leave a review as 'Guest' please use a name for yourself, it's so we can avoid confusion later on. I like to respond to all reviews I get at the bottom of the chapter. I call it the "Response Corner." I answer all reviews in order of when it was posted, but I will be purposely vague when it comes to spoiler questions.**

 **Mr. Green37:** Indeed, I guess I'm having too much fun with him in those situations. Thank you for reading.

 **Solomon07:** Good point on the Beacon setting, in all honesty, I didn't think about it that much until you mentioned it. We'll learn a lot of Jaune in this story. Thank you so much for reading.

 **Guest 1:** I hoped you enjoyed this chapter.

 **Guest 2:** (Rubs chest paddles) Clear! (Shocked myself) I'm still alive baby! I'll do my best to keep this story going. I guess the opened endedness is pretty common for intros, but I'm excited to know that you're interested in what could happen in this story. Have a fantastic day.

 **Iandude:** There will be laughs. I'll try to come up with some pretty good jokes. Thanks for the following.

 **MajorDarkBlade:** Oh it's great to see you… well read that you're here. I'm overjoyed that you would be interested in this new story as well. Have a great day.

 **asbigat:** Thank you for reading.

 **zerevenge:** Everything will be explained over time. Yeah, that was how my thought came across of if it would be possible if there was some unlucky person that has to help manage deadly people. This is the byproduct of that initial thought. Thank you for reading.

 **Bronyhood of Steel:** I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

 **Ghost-407:** Awesome, I have a lot of fun writing for Jaune.

 **Thorson:** I hope you like this chapter.

 **Benthino:** That's a deal. We all love to see Jaune in no win situations. (Chuckle) Have an nice day and thank you for reading.


	3. Chapter 3, The Sadist

At the doorway was a man in his mid to late twenties. His name was Fox, but Jaune didn't know if that was his real name. Jaune received a call from Fox's handler who remained anonymous to inform Jaune of his stay. It would be for the next couple of days or hours. Jaune accepted the information while it's not like he could say 'no' anyway.

Jaune held the door for Fox and stepped aside to welcome him in. Fox remained silent as he entered Jaune's home. He looked around and just by his gaze Jaune felt like he was being judged.

Fox was dressed in a dark orange no sleeve shirt that hugged his upper body, his hair was a messy copper color, he wore black jeans with dark orange boots. His arms had series of scars on each side. While his hands had two bulky looking gloves that looked a little long for the hands. Fox drifted his view to Jaune with his completely white eyes. He entered the kitchen as it was the closest turn from the main doorway. Then with a swipe of air, a knife lodged into the wall. Fox reacted by kneeling down and by pressing a button on his glove for a blade to pop out.

Fox stood up to see his challenger reveal herself as he clothes burned a golden red. Cinder sprinted into the kitchen then sidestepped a slice to her throat while she flicked her wrist for a dust blade to appear from her shirt. Cinder tossed the blade for it miss completely then she closed the distance.

Jaune heard nothing but several crashes and clangs as he peaked into his kitchen.

Cinder clenched a fist with her right hand then brought it into Fox's forehead for that one second for her position her left calf behind Fox's right leg as she punched him in the sternum then tripped him. On the fall Fox didn't give up as his gauntlet blade grazed Cinder's ankle. Cinder's clothes burned brighter while a curved sword was in her hand as it was millimeters away from Fox's throat.

"I win again." Cinder laughed.

Fox bushed the sword aside as Cinder moved her foot away from his chest. He grumbled to himself about something. Jaune looked around to see the damage. They must have bumped into the counter since two plates fell over and shattered. The black pot that Jaune used to cook earlier had four elongated scratches on it. Cinder noticed Jaune staring at the mess.

"I had to use it." Jaune looked at the pot to see all the new scratches and indentions on it. Cinder used the pot like a shield.

' _She's lucky, because had I not washed that out earlier, I wouldn't hear the end of it._ ' Jaune walked into the kitchen to offer Fox a hand. Fox looked up and accepted the gesture. He got to his feet and Jaune helped him dust off.

"That wasn't very nice." Jaune pointed out then noticed Cinder wasn't in the room.

"You're Juan right?" Fox asked.

"Jaune actually, your handler told me about your stay. Okay, the second door down the hall your guest bedroom." Jaune walked down the hall before he could get a migraine from how the kitchen turned out.

Fox massaged his shoulders and rolled his neck. With his peripheral vision, Fox noticed Cinder gave a devious smirk which influenced Fox to narrow his eyebrows at her.

"So this is my place. I usually try to wake up at 7 in the morning. I start breakfast at 7:30. If you have a certain request, all you have to do is tell me and I will make note of it. Lunch is at 1:00 in the afternoon and Dinner is at 8 in the evening." Jaune opened the door for Fox. The guest room had a single twin sized bed. Along the walls were several shelves with a coffee table beside the bed.

"The basement has an assortment of gear so you can resupply yourself." Jaune gave his routine spiel for his visitor. "If you don't like how I cook, that's okay. I leave a small pile of takeout cards and their scroll numbers to order. If you want me to clean your clothes and equipment, let me know and it'll be done before you leave."

Fox walked into the room as he looked around. There wasn't much Jaune could do from observing Fox's eye movements.

"This will do. I would like to have a mint cherry tea. The kind you get at that is served in a can." Fox turned his head to Jaune. From the moment he walked in, he had the same cold expression.

"Sure." Jaune accepted his order.

Fox looked away from Jaune as he left the room. On his way out, Jaune closed the door before curiosity got the better of him. For the age old saying of 'curiosity killed the cat,' is a very obvious understatement.

Jaune didn't pay attention to Cinder as he walked back down to the basement. As he passed her, Jaune noticed that Cinder was back at the couch watching the movie. The scene at the moment was of the lead actor's character learns a horrifying truth. That he's really a secret weapon of the government on the run!

 _'The plot really sucks when I think about it.'_ Jaune scoffed about the movie.

When Jaune entered the basement, the washer finished its load. Cinder's under clothing was free of wall the dark spots that plagued it. From past experience, Jaune carefully took out the clothes and had several hangers loop into the shoulders. Jaune had the clothes arranged at his forearm then remembered that he left his small one foot wind fan beside the Thermal Dust Grenades crate. 'TDGs,' as he likes to call them. No one else says that because of how 'T' and 'D' don't roll off the tongue easily in a sentence.

It sounded 'Titty Gs' if spoken quickly enough. It took a hard slap to Jaune's left cheek from a different government agent to realize how it sounded. It lead her to assume that he commented on her breast size. The real answer sounded too close to another excuse on his part.

Several wires hung from the upper part of the south wall. The wires stretched out for three feet. The opposite end of the wire was lazily stapled to the ceiling. With trial and error, Jaune had enough staples to be able to use the wires to support damp clothing. From there, the clothes hangers were spread evenly apart. Jaune walked back to the weapon lockers to fetch his fan. He quickly plugged in and then Jaune set the fan to spin at 4 which meant the highest setting. With some more effort, the fan aimed toward the clothes.

' _I'll get back the blade later._ ' The light for the basement flicked off.

With a snack run in mind, Jaune asked Cinder if she wanted anything in particular. The host was already aware of the answer, but his job demanded that he has to ask. Well not at gun point per se.

 _CLICK_.

Okay it was very much at gun point! As Cinder suggested since Jaune whispered some witty line at her expense.

"What was that?" The bone chilling monotone threatened.

"You want a crest water and a crunch bar?" Jaune said avoided the question.

Cinder nodded. In the darkness, with the light of the TV, gun could see the dim reflection of a gun. Personal safety is a major factor for this agents. From the ones Jaune met like to do something that make themselves comfortable. Cinder has hidden weapons around various points in Jaune's home. She just pulled out her M92F pistol she had hidden in the couch. She cut out a section of the couch under the cushion. She liked to lay down on the couch entirely so it worked for her.

Jaune walked to his bedroom to get his wallet. He pocketed his wallet, scroll, MP3 player, and house key. Those were the four most essential things Jaune needed to have before he would leave the house.

The closet of Jaune's room opened up for a hand to claim his trusty brown hoodie.

The front door closed, then another one opened. Fox's door specifically.

"Is he finally gone?" Fox spoke loud enough over the TV.

Cinder rolled her eyes at him. "Yes." She said in reply when Fox looked at her confused.

"He doesn't stop talking does he?" Fox said to start a conversation.

"Trust me, he can be really quiet when he wants to be." Cinder pulled her legs back for her to sit upright. "Don't bother, I already checked him. Just a guy caught up in his new job. I already had Velvet run a systems check on him. He's the loner type."

"Hmm." Fox left the room, then stood before Jaune's room. "When I'm done, we'll compare notes." Fox said before he entered Jaune's room.

"Fine by me." Cinder waved Fox off to continue her move. The main actor punched a man in the throat then kicked him in the face. Then the scene flashed in segments since she pressed fast forward on the DVD remote.

Back to Jaune's walk.

' _I might need some more food. That kid ran off with my crackers, I need one before Coco comes back._ ' Jaune looked above to see the shattered moon of Remnant. No matter how bad things get, Jaune loved the moon. Unlike stars which are warded off by light air pollution. He chuckled at the thought of how the Moon doesn't give a fuck about the city lights, it was an escapable view he loved to bask in. With his hands in his pockets. Jaune continued his fifteen minute walk to the store.

Unknown Location, Somewhere in Vale

"There is just so much to see in the world. You know that?" A woman said in a golden shirt. She looked down then made eye contact to a man strapped to the floor. Her eyes were of an ocean blue as she kneeled down. Even in the dim light, the man could see the reflection of her eyes.

"MMMHM!" The muffled tones of the man shouted from a gage in his mouth.

It was a moment later that a black carbon knife with a hollowed out center flew struck the man's stomach. The man looked up in a squeal of terror. The woman tilted her head while no smile appeared.

"Don't interrupt me." The woman extracted the blade. She looked to be in her early thirties, with wavy brunette hair. Her skin was pale, which was odd compared to her hair. The woman wiped the blood of the blade on her upper left sleeve.

"You know, there are various kinds of contracts. There are the ones where I have to do simple watch job or I can get down and dirty." The woman lifted herself up. From there the woman looked away from her assignment.

The man name was Richard Grey. A small time business owner with a restaurant. From where he loves to work and use it as way to stay close to his extended family. From his stand, he didn't pay a tax that came with territory. The black suits were the name and red ties were their game. A local gang that feasts on Vale and didn't have its fill. Richard didn't pay the taxes offered to him.

"I don't know about you, but I think it's time for us to break some tension." The woman returned to the man.

The trembling fear from Richard only fueled the woman on her next action.

"And I mean by this kind of tension." The woman lifted her right left then stomped down on Richard's left shin and fractured the bone underneath. Richard writhed in agony. The woman noticed that it didn't look like the way see intended. From there, she lifted her leg again and dropped it on him.

The bone splintered and separated. It still wasn't to her liking. So she kneeled down and poked the skin around Richard's leg then pierced it. Richard cried even more. Now that there was an opening for her to use. The woman stomped on the leg one more time for it to shatter with the bone to escape the opening.

"MAAHHHH!" Richard hysterically cried for. Images of his family consumed him. Anything to take him away from this pain of this maniac.

 _Knock Knock_.

"Come in, the door's unlocked." The woman looked over her shoulder to see the light enter the room.

A man in black suit, red tie, and red hat appeared. He had dark toned skin and looked to be in his late twenties.

"Ahem. Miss Grace, Junior would like to know, are you currently looking for a job?" The man asked.

"About to. I'm about to close up my current contract." The woman looked back down to see Richard. His breathing slowed down as he barely moved his leg.

"Well are you interested. Junior would like to have extra company present while he will carry out a deal with another person." The man said as lightly as he could.

"Junior wants extra muscle huh?" The woman named Grace looked back. "What's the catch?"

"Possibility of the police and the deal going south. Junior doesn't trust his business partner of the area. So that is why Junior is asking for your assistance."

"Tell him I'll pass, I don't feel like doing that kind of job at the moment." Grace walked to the other side of the room. On it were an assortment of her favorite tools. A crowbar, a wrench, pliers, and fluid acid. The acid was her favorite.

She looked at the henchman. "I said no. You can go now. I want to enjoy the rest of my contract." Grace waved the man off.

He looked at Richard of which the man only sighed for him. Nothing he could do besides to possibly get himself killed or tortured in the process. From there, the man looked away from Richard as he left the room. He closed the door with him as the darkness claimed the room once more.

"As I was saying about what to see in the world." Grace turned around with a monkey wrench. "It's a shame you can't enjoy anything else the world can offer."

Richard screams some more while Grace went back to work.

"Like the nomadic people of the south!" _Crack!_

"Seeing the Signal Theatre!" _Whack!_

"Or my personal favorite…" Richard felt something pinch him. It was a needle. On it, it had the bolded letters. **Adrenaline**. It was something to keep his body awake for what will happen ahead. So he couldn't pass out from the pain as much he wanted to.

"The night lights of Vale!" _Crack!_

If continued for another ten minutes until Richard couldn't handle the pain any longer. He lived for 41 years and was on good terms with his family. His body would be left on a specific street of Vale from people Grace will pay to deliver him.

She walked to her table and smiled at her work. From her forehead, she had a tear of sweat. ' _None of them can put out much longer than an hour. Something like that would be a sight to see._ ' Then Grace remembered her little incursion with a government agent.

The one who got away.

Grace remembered it fondly. He was caught and she had to get ready for their little date but he escaped before that could happen. ' _If it wasn't for that blonde punk!_ ' Grace frowned as she wiped away the blood of her various tools. There was an iron smell of blood in the air, but Grace thought of it as more a lovely scent that no perfume could match.

She licked her lips and noticed of how dry her mouth felt. After she thoroughly cleaned her belongings, Grace changed her clothes as she already had men come to her location to take care of the corpse. She walked to her shower, it was a short one to take care of the blood she probably didn't know about. She left her shower feeling refreshed for her little trip.

In a dark blue shirt, it was slightly a size smaller than what Grace needed. She liked it that way since her small bust appealed to those she would pass while she's out and about. Her pants were already black she could have the blood hide in plain sight. After another ten minutes, Grace pocketed her wallet, scroll, and her silver wristwatch.

From her work place, Grace set out to walk to a store to get some snacks for herself. 2 kilometers away, Jaune Arc crossed the street. He learned that the specific tea that Fox wants comes from a different store that's sold rarely in Vale. It was a hassle but still, it's his job.

The place he had to go to was called 'Nomadic Mart.' The same place where Grace loved to shop…

 **Oh crap… So I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. Also, I have a request for you artists out there. I would like to request someone among you to possibly make cover art for this story. I want something to be specific for this story and it would mean a lot to me. It's just a request as I don't have money to offer. Please PM me if you're interested. Thank you so much for reading and have an excellent day.**

 **MajorDarkblade:** Thank you for enjoying the story. I would try to aim to update every week. It mostly comes down to how much I want to write and if there isn't anything weighting me down in real life. Have a great day.

 **Jashl Xxify:** Thank you, I wasn't sure how readers might like the humor.

 **Gabriel Caellum:** I wanted to something dark for RWBY. There are plenty already but this is just my take to make Jaune's life hell. (Chuckle) We'll see for the characters. Have an awesome day.

 **Benthino:** Thank you for your trust. I hope you'll enjoy this story as it continues. Yeah, Agent Cinder… Her title of 'Agent' is pretty fun.

 **Solomon07:** That is a really in depth observation of Jaune and Cinder. Yeah, this story is of those Jaune has to take care of… per se. I hoped like Fox's interaction in this chapter. Thank you for reading.

 **Guest:** Well that is the perfect way to describe the synopsis of the story. Yeah, I always thought it was funny how Agents get to live the high life and I wondered what it would be like for people that are involved with them. So Jaune becomes a caretaker. I love the idea one night then three hours later, CH 1 was on my laptop. It's funny how ideas fester. Well I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Have a wonderful day.


	4. Chapter 4, Nomadic Mart

The movie continued with the image of two main characters in Diamond Mercenaries 2. The main character named Wade stared down his arch nemesis, a guy named Howard. It took a fight up a series of stairs and on the roof of a 50 story building. The wind from above moved their clothes around during their stare down.

"You killed my best sister's best friend, and my uncle's second cousin twice removed…" Wade clenched a fist. Then Howard started to talk in a monologue.

"This movie really is shit." Cinder stated right before she took a sip of her drink. At Jaune's place, he's always stocked on soda.

"Just listening to it makes me cringe." Fox added from the doorway to Jaune's room.

"But we just can't turn away until we see how it ends." Cinder didn't bother to look back. The movie had about another ten minutes left.

Fox walked to the opposite end of the couch to take a seat. The two of them waited until the movie ended.

Dallas and Chains street. 4 blocks away from Nomadic Mart.

Every step was a loud one. Not like one where the shoes clapped with the concrete but made a specific soft sound to it. There wasn't a specific reason why, but Jaune found that to make the cleanest footstep was a rather fun and compulsive game to play on walks. The same goes to keep a constant rhythm while he tried to avoid the cracks.

There wasn't anything to weigh down his mind. It was a simple life he had to live. From his stare at the concrete Jaune noticed the asphalt then looked up to see the street. He looked left then turned right, no cars heading his way. He crossed the street.

Jaune's house.

Howard screamed as he fell to his death down the building he paid for. Wade did bother to walk to the edge he simply turned around and looked at the camera.

"The king is dead…" Fade to black. The credits to move rolled as the names of all of those involved appeared in thick white letters.

"I would think the fight scene would have lasted a lot longer." Fox pointed out.

"Yeah. I think the movie peaked when Wade derailed a train and somehow survived while there were like 200 people on the same train." Cinder replied as she walked to the entertainment center. She had the second movie in hand as she kneeled down.

"So, what did you find out?" Cinder started the real conversation.

"Plenty."

Nomadic Mart.

Jaune looked up to see the white golden letters of the store. It was pretty late and from the looks of it, there were barely any costumers at this time of night. Jaune shrugged as he walked past the automatic doors. The inside of the store appeared to be full to brim with goods. It was here that the several packaged good from all over Remnant.

' _I should've come with a shopping list._ ' Jaune thought as he walked past the row of cashier stations. To his right he saw a stand that held a cookies from Vacuo. On it had the logo of a Faunus woman smiling at the customer that looked rather cartoony. The artist earned their work since Jaune liked the art so much, that he had to try the cookies. He grabbed a bag.

The look of the location had a wide open ceiling where the lights hung from the beams. It was kinda odd since the below, the store barely had room for its current stock. There was a section of fresh veggies and fruits. Jaune glanced them over as there could be something tasty to make for his future calzones. It was rather fun to window shop. He continued to look over the food.

Jaune's house.

"His full name is Jaune Alexander Arc. He's 23 or 24 years old." Fox leaned forward as he positioned his hands to in to hold his chin.

"You had it right the first time." Cinder opened the see through case for the DVD. "He's 23."

"For some reason, he used to like to go out to purchase comic books, the dates on the issues tell me so. They're from 3 years ago. Either he lost interest in them or maybe grew out of them." Cinder listened as she took out the second movie. "It's just a useless expense on the long run anyways."

"Says the guy who loves to buy the most expensive drinks at bars." Cinder retorted as she pressed the button to the DVD player to open the disc port.

Fox stared at Cinder for a good five seconds. He shook his head then continued. "He doesn't really care for a sense of style. The bed sheets are red while his pillows are yellow."

On the TV was the disc icon. "From the looks of the white marks, Jaune is no stranger to drooling during his sleep. To my surprise, he has a pretty well made bed. Just by a longshot, I think he could have OCD." Fox shrugged.

"He doesn't, otherwise, he would've have been dead a long time ago." Cinder cut the assumption off.

"Okay, he has a mini book stand on the corner. He likes to read mystery, angst, and the occasional smut books."

"Really?" Cinder said by reflex. She pressed the button for the DVD to close. The TV had the black text of 'Reading' on it.

"Yeah, something about a samurai men that fight demons." Fox looked at the ceiling.

"Smoke, but no cigar." Cinder always loved to break this down. "Those books aren't for him."

"Oh yeah?" Fox brought his head down.

"There for another guest but I don't know for who though." Cinder pointed out as she walked to the kitchen.

"Really? Then who is it for?"

Nomadic Mart

As much as he tried. Jaune just had to bag several white carrots from Atlas, some fresh tomatoes from Mistral, and Vacuo's purple lettuce. Jaune walked out of the fresh produce aisle before he spent more money than he had to. So he continued onward deeper into the store.

"Attention shoppers." An intercom echoed. "This store is currently about to close down for the night in 20 minutes. We thank you for your continued patronage and we open up at 8 tomorrow morning if you couldn't find what you're looking for. Have a wonderful night."

As the employee looked down from the microphone. He rubbed his eyes as from the 11 hour work shift. Just then, the automatic doors slide apart for him to look toward it.

A pale woman with brunette hair entered the store. From the look of her eyes, she was awake and alert.

"Uh, ma'am? Just so you know, this store is closing in 20 minutes." The employee got the woman's attention "Please make your purchase quickly."

"Sure thing, um." The woman stared at the employee's nametag. "Dove." The woman walked past the cashier's station to deep into the store. Dove tilted his head to get a rather lengthy glance at the woman's posture as she walked.

' _I hate it that you leave but I love watching you go._ ' Dove cocked his head as he waited for more customers.

Jaune's house.

Cinder flicked the switch to light up the kitchen. She raised her foot over a shattered plate on the floor to make her way to the refrigerator.

"I have no idea who."

"How do you know?" Fox asked from the hallway.

"I looked up the synopsis from the scrollnet, he doesn't know a thing about any of those books." Cinder opened the door. She was greeted with three other brands of soda. She picked the red can. "I asked him about the stories and lied to me about the plots."

"Hmm." Fox looked away from the kitchen. "Then what does that say about the movie poster, the um, um…" Fox snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, the Commando Days and the Dark Swamp poster?"

"I thought you would've figured that out by now." _ChisssKlak!_ Cinder cracked open her next drink.

"So he loves movies. What's so special?" Fox entered the kitchen.

"He likes the violent ones, especially the action flicks. He used to have a poster called, 'The Raid: Damnation.'" Cinder took a sip of her drink.

"Fine. The mail he usually gets are bills and junk mail. Nothing of a specific person." Fox leaned against a wall then stared at the floor. "Which is weird. I checked the dresser and I couldn't even find a photo album or a scroll book of numbers. As I came in earlier, I noticed he doesn't have any photos of himself or other people."

"Told you he's a loner." Cinder said as she walked out the kitchen.

"Is he an orphan or a kid that ran away from home?" Fox asked as she walked by.

"I have no idea." Cinder played it cool.

…

' _She knows something…_ ' Fox concluded. The two sat down back at the couch.

"The final thing I noticed about Jaune was that he used to attend the Hunter's school. Beacon Academy." Fox pointed out. Cinder turned her head slightly as he said it. "As a freshman, he didn't do much since on every page, there was a lack of him."

"Yep…" Cinder responded as Fox talked over the TV.

"All I found was just a single quote he said for the book. Funny thing too, his picture isn't in the yearbook even though it has his name in the index. It just skipped him for the next student." Fox chuckled. "Even back then he must have been forgettable."

"Well, how could we know?" Cinder responded as she kicked her legs up on the coffee table as the next trailer started.

"In a world, where the people must fight to survive… one woman must rise to the challenge." The typical movie trailer voice started to hype the movie.

Nomadic Mart

"Hmm." Jaune stared intensely at the various canned drinks in the center of the store. In each hand, there were two drinks of the same brand.

' _Did he say he wanted the cherry mint tea? …_ ' Jaune looked at his other hand. ' _Or was it the raspberry he wanted?_ ' He weighed both options until he shrugged. ' _Might as well just get both._ '

The reason for his visit took him a while to decide on which one he had to remember to buy. Right in the nick of time too, the employee gave a five minute warning.

"Did you finally decide?" A feminine voice called from Jaune's left as he place the cans in his shopping basket.

"Huh?" Jaune looked to see a pale woman with brunette hair.

"The tea." The woman glanced downward.

"Oh that? I'm not sure what to try." Jaune shrugged. "So I got both."

' _Who is this woman?_ ' Jaune felt a something in his mind tug about the woman.

"Ah well, nice to know there are still people who shop here." The woman said as she walked past Jaune. "Oh my, my name's Grace… and you are?" Grace offered a hand.

"Jaune." He shook her hand. Just by the feel of it, Grace had somewhat a rugged feel to her hands. ' _She must be a very physical woman._ ' With his chance, he glanced at Grace's shopping basket. The contents were several bags of chips, a small bag of gummy worms from Vacuo, and a six pack of whale soda. The kind where it has light blue glass and a glass ball to act as the opener for the bottle. ' _Whale soda is weird._ '

"Hmm, a handsome man like you probably must have someone here with you." Grace smiled at Jaune.

Jaune chuckled at the thought. "Nah, just here by myself. Good night." Jaune said to hopefully ward the woman off.

"Scared of women are ya? Can't blame you." Grace said as she walked alongside Jaune.

' _This is getting a little weird._ ' Jaune felt a chill drift along his spine.

Jaune spoke very little to the woman as the two approached the cashier station as one employee waited for them. From observation, Jaune noticed a man in his mid-twenties stand wait for them. He had rather flat somewhat chunky cheeks then Jaune checked his name tag.

His hair wasn't long or short, just mess and bland to look at. Just by his expression, Jaune could tell that Dove was really tired.

"Did you find everything okay?" Dove asked.

"It's fine." Jaune answered.

 _Beep, beep, beep_. The small amount of contents were good to go.

"That'll be 23.38 lien."

Jaune opened his wallet for 25 lien in cash. Dove accepted the transaction and printed Jaune's recipe.

"Thank you and good night." Dove nodded.

"You too." Jaune grabbed his bags then in a faster walking pace, Jaune bolted toward the exit. Something about Grace still irked Jaune. Even though it was an idea of memory, Jaune couldn't shake the need to run away… as fast as he can.

The automated doors sealed behind him. Jaune jogged toward the closest street corner. From there, the street appeared to have been safe to cross. He sprinted across whilst his bags rustled in the wind.

It took him two blocks to finally slow down his pace.

' _Why do I feel this way?_ ' Jaune thought as he slowed down on the sidewalk.

 _Thump. Thump._

He couldn't shake the feeling of fear. His hands trembled while the two bags waved around during his walk.

Jaune looked at the moon. It just stared back at him. With a long huff of air, Jaune took a long deep breath. When he breathed out of his nose, Jaune felt himself calm down.

It wasn't long before Jaune just decided to just shrug off the feeling and continued to place his game with the concrete. During his walk, no one interrupted him. Just him and the sounds of the clapping shoes. In a way, it reminded Jaune of those old computer games where the main character's feet would sound way too loud for it to be realistic.

The game continued for another 9 blocks. The game was fun, simple, and soothing.

Until it happened.

The memory struck him of why Jaune should be scared.

The night where his life changed forever.

By then, it was too late. The two plastic bags danced from the wind. A white carrot rolled down the sidewalk then too the street. Five seconds later, the same carrot was flattened by a car that drove by. The tea cans rolled into the corner of the sidewalk into the overgrown grass.

Just 1 block away from his home.

The moon has always been there for Jaune… It witnessed the best, and the worst of Jaune's life. This just happened to be another worst moment.

 **Thank you reading. I have another mostly RWBY story called 'Jaune's Fall from Grace' I'd appreciate it if you took the time to check that story out.**

 **I would say more, but that'll be spoiler territory. I just hope you'll look forward to the next chapter. ;-) I recently saw the new character design for both Winter and Qrow. I completely love both of their outfits. The tattered cape for Qrow just looks so damn awesome. Now that my fanboying is out of the way, time for the response corner.**

 **Benthino:** Yeah, just a danger of the new lifestyle. Glad you like it.

 **TazalTerminals:** Oh no, well this wasn't supposed to have been a dark fic… but it just sorta became way. (Chuckle) That's a rather understandable hunch. Thank you for reading.

 **sdphantom10:** Thank you for liking the dialogue. I always worry if it becomes overbearing or boring for some reason. Oh no, I didn't aim for this to cause paranoia. Just kidding… or am I? Oh thank you for saying that. I wasn't sure on how people would've have taken to this story idea. Have an excellent day.

 **darkvirus510:** Keep reading to find out. Thank you for reading.

 **Raven Knight:** I love Blue vs Red. You don't mean? (Dramatic pause) Well, we don't know how that could go down… Have a wonderful day.

 **Guest 1:** You're just going to have to continue reading to find out. Wow, I thought my Jaune and Cinder was kinda okay at best. Thank you so much for saying that. Have a great day.

 **Mr. Green:** Yeah, Coco, a very dangerous woman indeed. Jaune's hands are always full.

 **Solomon07:** Nice of you to be so forthright your reviews. Well I wouldn't think there was a scarcity, just that Jaune is screwed over to go to a very specific store. You're very observant and I appreciate you taking the time to leave such reviews. With Cinder's hidden weapons, it's kinda a hobby she likes to do. Have an amazing day.

 **Guest 2:** It definitely sucks for Jaune sometimes. Have an awesome day.

 **AdrianCabanillas:** Uh oh indeed. Thank for reading.


	5. Chapter 5, The Gambit

It was strange…

Jaune recalled growing up, that people always told him to never be afraid of the dark.

The dark, was just thing that houses all of your fears. When you lay in bed to think about what worries you at night. The dark, becomes the excuse of when you don't want those fears to come to light. The dark, just something everyone has to deal with. Whether it be in the mind or when the sun wasn't with him to deal with it.

Even in the daylight, there will always be shadows to make the dark loom around him.

Jaune realized by now… that this specific thought process was bullshit. In the dark, you can create lights for oneself to live by. The moon was Jaune's answer to that. Don't wallow in the fucking dark, everyone has the deal with it. He had to create light for himself.

The dark is just a state of mind. The dark, just masked his fear. The dark, can go fuck itself.

Especially when the dark is artificial. Like this wrap he currently has over his eyes.

"Wakey wakey." Several finger snaps clicked in front of Jaune face. He judged from the sound.

Jaune's head lifted slightly up to look in the direction of the source. He still couldn't see but it just put him at ease just to make the attempt. Male, just by the voice.

"Yeah?" Jaune coughed. Just with a tug at the hands, he felt something metallic at his wrists.

Jaune remembered it now. Three men, each dressed in black… no it was charcoal. A good color to match the night. A red van, unmarked with anything until a bag wrapped his head. Must be less than an hour depending if Jaune was taken out of the city… He really hoped that assumption wasn't true.

"Do you know why you're here?" The voice asked.

"No…" He struggled again.

"Well, you know some stuff that we would very much like to know…" The voice sounded like an annoyed grumble. ' _Male, probably a heavy drinker and smoker. A deep raspy voice._ ' Jaune listed in his head.

"Like what? I'm just a guy that works at Dusk and Dawn: Ice cream." Jaune retorted.

"That I can understand… what I really want to know that 4 months ago on the 16th, you helped a person who probably isn't who he said he was. You took this injured agent, dodged various enforcers and somehow survived the night." The voice continued. Several steps paced from Jaune's left then to the right.

… Jaune turned his head. Just in the distance, he could hear shuffling further down the room. Something metallic rubbed on leather.

"I still don't know what you're talking about." Jaune made his play. ' _That doesn't sound like a weapon kit..._ '

"Who the hell are you Jaune!?" A fist jabbed into Jaune's stomach.

The pain jolted all around as Jaune's head dropped down some. He coughed as he raised his head. "I just ate something earlier, you don't want me to puke on you… do you? ... Unless you're into that kinda thing… I don't judge." Jaune took a deep breath to regain his composure.

"You know what I'm talking about." The man spoke with laced venom in his tone. "Are you a recovery agent? A specialist?"

"You seriously got me confused with someone else." Jaune said as look blindly looked around the room. Just anything to do.

"No we don't." A feminine voice responded the moment Jaune stopped moving his head.

"Sorry, but I can't help you." Jaune tilted his head so his ear could face the direction of the source.

"Play dumb and this gets really fun for me." The voice leaned in as Jaune felt a wave of breathe at his nose.

"I still-" A pointed spiral object pierced Jaune's left thigh.

"ARGH!" Jaune raised his head and bared his teeth to avoid making a sound.

"Just let me know what you got for me okay?" The object twisted slightly for it the set ablaze to his nerves. It was clear to him now. The device that was a corkscrew.

…

"How long will this one last?" The man asked.

…

"Just depends on the tool." The woman responded. "The cute ones are more fun."

"Grace?" Jaune uttered. The voice was still fresh in his mind.

…

"Oh hey there champ." The male in the room took several steps back. Jaune took several deep breaths.

"I keep forgetting how damn cute you are…"

Jaune felt a hand brush his. Cold and boney while somewhat soft.

"Ahem, Grace the agreed amount please?"

"I already spoke to your men. The funds have been transferred." Grace drifted her fingers along Jaune's blindfold.

"Well then. Make this quick please, because I got some stuff to do later." The guy walked several steps and what sounded like a door opened then closed.

Jaune felt a hand brush through his hair. The fingers scratched his scalp which satisfied an itch he had.

"You know, I always thought of the people were cute behave a lot like rabbits." Grace moved away from Jaune. "They act all cute, don't say much."

Something of metal scrapped along the leather from earlier. Plenty of tools for the woman to use. Jaune looked to ground.

' _Is this how I'm going to die?_ '

"With rabbits, they are scared the moment something threatening appears and so you scramble to your hiding place. Not like the Faunus mind you… but they are a different story." Grace giggled at several memories.

"I really don't know what you're talking about." Jaune leaned forward then shook his head in Grace's general direction.

"Don't interrupt me." Footsteps inched closer to him for it to wiggle the corkscrew around. Jaune writhed in pain again for several seconds.

No matter how much this was bad for him… Jaune could handle the pain for a time.

"As I was saying. The Rabbits are very alert and need something like a Wolf to catch them. A bear, snake, whatever the hell it needs to be. This is the part where I tell you I'm the animal that hunts." Grace let a dramatic pause. "I'm not, I'm more of a cat really. I like to play with my catch."

"Cats aren't sadistic from what I know of them." Jaune tugged on his wrists again.

"That they aren't. So I take you're wondering where is this conversation is going?" Grace asked.

"I'm afraid to ask about the 'what?'"

"Fair enough. I just like to talk about anything when I know it goes nowhere. That's all." Grace clenched a fist and punched Jaune on the right side of his jaw.

"Just give me a name, and all of this is over."

"I still do not know what you're talking about." Jaune repeated.

"The person you saved 4 months ago. Tell me right now, or I'll have to get creative." Grace took hold of the corkscrew handle.

"Oooh him? ...That guy?" Jaune sighed. "He's my pizza delivery guy."

With that, Jaune felt a several stirs on the corkscrew on his leg. The pain was unmeasurable. Just like the thing the designed, Jaune knew it wasn't going to be something special to keep quiet about. Then Jaune felt another object strike him on the left arm. A screw driver stabbed his skin. Blood trickled from the source as Jaune closed his eyes from the pain.

' _Don't give them the satisfaction Jaune…_ '

"How do you like that, little rabbit?" Grace smiled not so innocently.

"That really smarts." Jaune whispered.

"I can do more if you'd like." Grace twisted the screw driver.

The immense jolt of pain that consumed Jaune's mind made him wish that he took that Pain class back in Beacon. To train oneself to make the physical stuff become a play of the mind. That could have been a great- The corkscrew twisted again.

' _Ow ow ow OWOW!_ '

Jaune let himself slip from the pain as he cried out. "Aaaahhhh!" Jaune kept his eyes closed. Grace may have claimed his voice but not his spirit. The cork screw twisted again. This time, with some force from the top to go down even further on the skin.

You that feeling you get when you inadvertently crush your finger and the pain was rather quick but then you have to deal with that very slow and bitter burning feeling. This was similar to that, but much much worse. The burning was there but the source of the pain won't go away. Like a churning in the stomach.

"I know most rabbits, they keep to themselves, as soon as they hide in a hole. I think most of the time, they just can't face the reality of life sometimes. To be the end of the line for some other creature…" Jaune heard some shuffling from slightly below him. "Did you know that you can make a rabbit have a heart attack if you clap your hands when they're in close proximity?" The shuffling stopped.

Just by the how something sharped grazed along his clothing was enough for Jaune's hair to stand on the back of his neck. Shortly afterward, Jaune felt the blade touch the edge of his neck.

"You make for such a lovely rabbit." Grace pulled the blade back. "Just tell me what you know?"

"Like I know anything you're asking me about." Jaune felt his lips slip. That was a lie, he knew in saying that would only peak Grace's interests. The footsteps continued to the end of the room. Most likely back to her _tools_.

"That makes it all the more fun for me then." Grace replied with a hint of disappointment. Jaune could over hear the sounds of rattling metal. Like a real tool of some kind. It sounded… it sounded like a wrench. The metal grinded together as the way the metal rubbed against itself made it sound bulky.

Jaune lowered his head in defeat.

Then it happened. A loud bang occurred at somewhere in the building. The sound of it was loud enough that Jaune felt the vibration from his feet. Several seconds afterward, the door from opened up. The same raspy voice called out to Grace.

"It looks like a Shadow Raid. We have several cars downstairs, we got to leave right now!"

"Fine." The moment she said that, several windows shattered behind Jaune.

"Shit!" The raspy voice scrambled to himself as several shots blasted into the room. Jaune flinched from the gunshots.

The moment the shots paused, three somewhat quieter gunshots fired back. The sound of a heavy stuffed object collapsed to the ground.

"STOP!" A woman's voice ordered as the quieter bullets fired. Too many were released for Jaune to count.

"DAMN!" She spat. "Get the package and I'll go after the target."

"Roger that." A male voice responded. A hand pulled Jaune's head back. Several fingers untangled the eye wrap as Jaune eyes adjusted to the somewhat lit room. By lit, it was just a small room with two windows as the moon's rays seeped in.

Jaune looked around as the cuffs were unlocked. A woman sprinted off before Jaune could get a look at her. Jaune turned his head around to see his savior.

"Sky?"

"Hey Jaune." A handler of the Agency codenamed Sky Lark stood in black body-armor and gear nodded to the blonde. With a black weapon, Sky walked in front of Jaune and lowered his head. It was a KSG Shotgun. Jaune remembered from the various weapons he had to work on.

"Come on, let's get you outta here." Sky pointed his wrist out the window he blew open. An elongated rope launched forward as it lodged itself in a wall right above a fire escape. Jaune had a strap wrap around him as he was sent outside. The vacant street below frightened him. After 20 seconds Jaune made it across as two men in face encompassing helmets took Jaune to safety.

The underground floor.

"Come on! Come on!" The raspy voiced man stated as him and several men walked to their parked cars.

"Forget the payment, this is a Shadow Raid." He ordered to his men.

"No… if it was, we would have killed you sooner." A deep voiced called from the parking lot. It was difficult to pinpoint the source.

"Wait what?" A man in a blue shirt and black pants pointed his M1911 Hardballer around himself. The man turned around as an orange blade struck the middle of his stomach. Before he could react, another blade swiped his throat as his blood poured out of him. Blood painted his shirt as he dropped to the ground.

The raspy voice man had six men with him when Grace hired him and his crew. Small timers, but still over the service of disposing dead bodies as the employer sees fit. The leader, was named Rick. A Faunus man with a pale complexion to match his deer linage. Two small antlers came from his forehead. In a blue suit he watched as a body of a decapitated man toppled from a pillar. The head rolled out as it blinked to the remaining four.

"Oh dust!" One of the men cried.

"Shut up! Just get one of the cars ready." Rick snapped. With a Mini-Uzi in hand, Rick walked toward the body of the decapitated one. One of the four followed Rick, armed with a M92F pistol. The two inched along the footsteps.

Several footsteps of blood came from the pillar.

"Oh shit."

While Rick did that, one of the men opened a car door to get a car started. It took several tries as the head lights distracted the other two.

"Hey I got it." The driver called out.

"Fuck!" The ones outside the car cried out. "The tires are slashed."

"You got to be kidding me!" Rick grinded his teeth.

"It think we could-"… silence. One of the men outside of the car was missing.

"Tomas?" Rick called out. He frowned as he looked glanced toward the car. Something wasn't right. Rick walked in a steady pace as his follower watched their surroundings.

"Tomas? We got a way out…" Rick noticed the same driver from moments ago had a large hole in the shape of line in place were Tomas' temple was. One the two had his throat slashed and he lied along a pillar for support. While at the car's tire, sat the third man.

He didn't scream, cry, or whimper… There he was, trying to keep his intestines inside his stomach. The red vines dangled about in the fruitless effort. The eyes were devoid of emotion. It kept that way until he bled out.

Rick's pupils widened as he looked at the last man. The two of them scared shitless of their attacker.

The two of them walked back to back into the middle of the parking lot. Rick's hands trembled with his Uzi. Never before has he encountered an opponent that scared him to the very soul of his shoes.

 _Bang bang bang!_

The fire of the bullets flashed behind Rick as his last man had a hole in the middle of his forehead. By the time Rick turned around, a bullet lodged itself into Rick's right arm and it caused him to drop his weapon. Another bullet dropped into his right thigh then his left calf. Rick dropped to his knees. Rick looked up to see his reaper.

The scythes he carried at his arms had the blood of his men. The orange vest he wore with his white soulless eyes peered down to him. In the final moment, the reaper lifted his right arm up as the blade placed itself through Rick's collar bone. The inside to be precise. With great newfound force, the blade pulled through to make the bones snap apart as his skin pierced open. Bits of bone flew through the air. The pain was taken to its extreme while the blood erupted from the body. After four seconds, Rick face planted to the concrete.

The reaper turned away and flicked his weapons of the blood.

"This is Fox. Bottom floor is secure…"

5 floors above. At the same time of Fox's attack.

Grace slammed the door behind her as her attacker fired dozens of bullets at her. It's been three floors since the black armored agent came through the window. Grace stumbled about as she reached the second to last floor as took her chance in another room.

"Damn." Grace shook her head as her emergency stash of weapons wasn't with her tonight. Just another room but with a flickering light bulb.

The door slammed out as Grace's attacker showed herself.

"Long time no see, Cindy." Grace tilted her head with a dirty smile.

The raven haired agent winced at the way Grace said her name.

"Enough Grace." Cinder spoke as calmly as she could.

"Remember that time when I slit that woman's throat the moment you tried to catch me? Oh yeah, wasn't her name-"

"Quiet Grace!" Cinder felt the extreme urge to pull the trigger of her weapon. Fire burned from Cinder's eyes. That kind of fire that burned from deeply rooted hatred.

"Come on Cindy." Grace smiled as she stared in Cinder's eyes. "Do you _really_ think I deserve something so quickly?"

…

"You know I'm right Cindy."

…

Cinder didn't speak a word as she unslung her UMP as she stared at Grace. Just at the sight of it just made Grace giggle in excitement. Finally someone to prove challenge Grace on her own terms. No one came better than that of Cinder Fall for that matter.

The gun kicked up so dust as it struck the ground.

"Alright… your move." Cinder frowned at Grace. The light burned brightly as both women stared at each other. Grace made her usual smile she used on the various lives of people she caught.

The light flickered again for several seconds. "Draw!" Grace said with glee. Then both women charged at each other…

 **And I'll stop right about here. Curse me. How could I? But that means you'll have a new fight right out the gate in the next chapter. So there's that to look forward to. So please voice your thoughts on the chapter. Especially the scene of Fox going all Predator on the henchmen. If you get the 'Predator' reference, you get a digital cookie. Thank you so much for reading.**

 **Raven Knight:** We'll see about that. Still though, it would make things very interesting. Have a great day.

 **Benthino:** Yeah… things just seem to happen at the worst of times. But oh well, that's just how I roll. (Chuckle) I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

 **Drake D Zero:** Yeah, still no word yet but it's soon. ;-) Have a good day.

 **Suna No Ken:** Thank you for just making a review of your excitement. Stay amazing and have a great day.

 **AdrianCabanillas:** Yeah. That really sucks.

 **Stormy Trix:** Indeed it is. Have an awesome day.

 **sdphantom10:** Just comes with the new occupation. We'll learn soon enough of how Jaune feels about it. Thank you for reading.

 **Solomon07:** Very good analysis my good sir or madam. I mean wow, just how you're able to take such little information to make such conclusions. It makes it fun to write more. Yeah, I thought it was just kinda sad for Cardinal to be used as punching bags or just generic side characters. It's been fun using them in this story, and what I have planned so far as well. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	6. Chapter 6, Shadow Raid

Jaune walked out of the building as a soldier shouldered his left arm, the same happened with another soldier on the right. Looking around, there wasn't much. A dozen uniformed members crowded around two small vans.

"How bad is the pain?" The soldier asked.

"Pretty bad, my legs feel like they're not there, and heavy… really really heavy."

The soldier acknowledged once they got close enough to the vans.

"We got the package. Someone bring the first aid kit and get the doc." He waved at two more under her command.

Jaune looked back toward the Complex.

Inside the Complex

Cinder made the first move as Grace moved in, Cinder set her left arm forward then a right hook. Grace endured the hit and countered with a left straight punch to Cinder's sternum. It closed the distance as Grace smiled, she positioned her left leg behind Cinder's right. With a push backward, Cinder stumbled as a result. Grace jumped and reversed kicked Cinder in the stomach.

Cinder grunted at Grace but she remained on her feet in defiance. Grace adjusted her posture as he hands held out as palms. That meant that Grace would adjust herself to whatever Cinder would throw out. Her knees bent slightly as well.

' _You were the one that we could have trust._ ' Cinder's mind echoed.

Cinder's blood boiled as she dashed forward. Grace stepped forward and lowered her body so her left leg would sweep the floor. Grace made her move too early, Cinder stepped on the ground that the leg missed and Cinder positioned her hands to hold onto both sides of Grace's head for her to bring her knee up. Grace took the hit then rolled to her side and Cinder took a step back.

"Nice one." Grace complimented as she reversed her legs again for her to be in a crouched position.

' _Some of us still think you were a good person. I'm not part of that group._ ' Cinder's mind continued as Grace turned her head toward her. Her smile didn't diminish but only grew wider. The blood that rimmed her teeth made Cinder enjoy the sight. The comedian was the one to be left out on the last laugh.

Grace didn't bother wiping the blood away as she took her posture again.

"That's right Cindy, let that anger out. I know you keep it buried deep inside. Let it burn!" Grace charged forward for Cinder to take the defensive this time around.

In the rush, Grace tackled Cinder to the floor. Cinder raised her arms to protect her face while Grace punched at her frantically.

' _You saved my life, twice._ ' Cinder opened up on the next punch the brought her fist to Grace's temple. It was enough for her to escape. Grace rolled to her left. Cinder rolled to her left and returned to her feet. The punches she endured showed. A black bruise formed on her right cheek and her lower lip had an open cut.

Then the two got back into their postures.

This was the final round.

Grace looked as if she started to slow down, the same with Cinder. The amount of mental power this takes in moments like these usually seem to last a lifetime.

Cinder started them off as she lifted her right knee as Grace approached her. She then slammed her foot down in a fake out for her used a right punch. It worked for not since Grace caught her arm, then twisted it for Cinder to grunt at her. Cinder didn't wait for anything else as she brought her right around to strike the center of Grace's chest. She released her grip enough for Cinder to escape. From there, Grace poked at Cinder's left leg as she kicked it to hopefully dislocate it. Cinder responded by shoving Grace away.

Grace wouldn't have that as she charged again by wrapping her arms around Cinder's waist. Cinder brought her elbows down several times as Grace started to falter. Cinder then brought her knee up to Grace's stomach. She felt some moisture at her knee, so that meant that Grace probably felt it. Once Cinder had the upper hand, she claimed it by shoving Grace forward for her to land on her back. Before she could move again, Cinder kicked her over her forehead as she walked passed her.

Grace stared at the ceiling while Cinder returned with her weapon in hand. The round chambered and the two looked at each other.

"I still think you're too soft Cinder." Grace exhaled and spat her blood in the opposite direction.

' _That's just you_.'

The door to the room burst open as Sky Lark scanned the room with his weapon.

"Cinder, wait! Our orders are to _capture_ Grace." He lowered his weapon to hopefully reason with her.

"I'm well aware, I issued the Shadow Raid, and this is my call." Cinder didn't break eye contact with Grace. She looked back with a somewhat bored expression by this point.

"She's still useful." Sky pleaded.

"To who? This woman did so much to undermine the agency's goals." Cinder growled. Her finger was there at the trigger. Just a quick squeeze and no more Grace.

"That isn't your call." Sky Lark took hold of his weapon. "Killing Grace would be treason."

"I know the consequences." Cinder said coldly.

"Then make your decision, I'm ready to make mine the moment you do." Sky responded. He secured that Jaune could escape and usually members of the agency work alone. Sky was different since he was just a handler and not a full-fledged agent. He still had to report to his superiors.

Cinder lowered her weapon. "Get her out of my sight."

Sky didn't need to say anything as he approached Grace and had her arms in clear view as he cuffed her. Cinder shouldered her weapon as three more soldiers entered the room for them to secure Grace. To her surprise, Grace had several combat knives on her she could have used on Cinder.

Grace kept the same grin from what the fight had started with. Cinder walked out of the room first then she slowly walked down the steps of the complex.

Outside, in a one of the vans.

Jaune finished his look over by a doctor. His legs felt better. This wasn't like in the movies where the victim gets wrapped in a blanket. He just had to bare through it. Jaune watched as half to the soldiers disappeared to at the corners.

"Hmm?" Jaune tilted his head.

"They're just returning to their assignments." Fox called to Jaune's left.

"Oh… well that's good, I guess." Jaune shrugged.

"Did you tell them anything?"

"Huh?" Jaune only heard the beginning of the sentence.

"I said, did you tell them anything?" Fox repeated and he clearly wasn't amused.

"No, I didn't. The crazy lady just took her time with me." Jaune massaged his wrists. The cuffs were really uncomfortable. What Jaune said to him helped caused Fox to relax his shoulder as they lowered and he took a deep breath.

"What did the doctor tell you?" Fox inquired.

"Well according to your wonder doctor. I'm generally okay, she looked it over and the cuts just look worse than what they actually are. The muscles in the regions were moved but from the medical dust she applied, it should heal fully in several months. The only thing she told me to worry about if my skin will leave a scar. I didn't lose much blood since you guys responded to quickly." Jaune looked at Fox. "How did you guys find me?"

"You see those tassels on your hoodie there?" Fox pointed out.

Jaune looked down as his hoodie. From there he took one in his hand.

"The one on the left is a GPS tracking device." Fox glanced to his left to see Cinder leave the building. "The one on the right is a mini-transmitter. We monitored your conversation when the GPS showed us how far off you drifted, we reacted. In this case, your abduction."

"Still don't know how I should feel about that." Jaune admitted. "Well, thank you for saving me."

Fox looked at Jaune. "We didn't come here for you, dumbass."

Jaune blinked in confusion.

"The real target was the woman who abducted you. She's been dodging us for several years now and we finally had a chance to catch her. Once we heard her voice we reacted." Fox said little information as possible.

"Oh…" Jaune looked to the ground.

"Don't flatter yourself." Fox said as he placed his hands in his pockets. "The mortality rate of caretakers has dropped in recent years. So you have that." Fox said as he started to walk away.

"Mortality Rate!?" Jaune stood up as Fox ignored him.

"Hey the Jaune." Cinder called out as she approached the van.

"Cinder! What does Fox mean by Mortality Rate?" Jaune looked at her and noticed all the cuts and bruises. "Whoa."

"Fox is just messing with you." Cinder sat down as she unslung her weapon. Jaune glanced at it and it was an MP5k Sub Machine Gun. It wasn't the kind that was stored at his home though.

"You should see the other woman." Cinder did a single laugh. She leaned back then rubbed her eyes.

"I'd rather not."

Cinder and Jaune sat beside each other as they stared to the concrete.

Jaune opened his mouth but he stopped himself several times. The two of them continued to watch as the soldiers started to fade from view. The second van had armed guards with Grace as they drove off into the night. The van the two of them were currently at was positioned out of view.

"What the doc say?" Cinder didn't bother to turn her head.

Jaune made a joke that came from the Scrollnet… Cinder wasn't amused by the attempt.

Jaune started to ramble on of the same things he told Fox about. He continued for a few minutes in detail of how he likes to speak. He slowed down at the end as he stared back to the ground.

"You going to get yourself checked out?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah, it's just simple stuff." Cinder replied.

…

"So what's a Shadow Raid?"

"It's better if you don't know what that is." Cinder deadpanned her response.

"Okay…" Jaune sighed. "Listen, thank you for saving me… even if I wasn't the intended target."

Cinder looked at Jaune, he looked exhausted. It was pretty late at night. Jaune was clearly doing his best to fight his sleep. Cinder looked away with a blank expression.

"Don't mention it."

Before Jaune could respond to her, she cut him off. "Really don't mention it, to anyone, not even to other visitors that'll come by your place. I don't need other agents meddling with my life. Do it and you'll be in a world of hurt. Am I clear?"

"Crystal."

"Good" Cinder stood up and Jaune stared at her. She raised both of her arms in the air as the moonlight seeped onto the street. She turned to Jaune.

"Just so you know, the next time I come back, you better be sure to cook dinner with some meat in it." She suggested. "And be sure to get better movies next time. The ones you had were really crappy."

"Sure." Jaune rolled his eyes at her. When that happened, Cinder looked to her right then waved at some soldiers to come over to her.

"Is that Target secured?" She asked.

"Yes ma'am, she's being transported as we speak. Fox made sure the hired guns won't get back on their feet again." She replied.

"Good, the SR has been accomplished. You're dismissed."

"Ma'am." The soldiers saluted Cinder then they walked off.

Cinder entered the same van as Jaune and sat on the opposite wall. Jaune paid little attention to her as he laid down on his back.

"We're all cleared out now." Sky said into the van. Cinder nodded to Sky as he closed the doors.

Jaune closed his eyes and lifted his right arm to cover his eyes. The engine to the van started while someone joined in from the passenger side. By the sound of it, it was Sky. He showed the diver a map to their next destination. Cinder leaned back and just let her mind wonder.

It wasn't long before Jaune felt something shake his arm. He ignored it for several seconds until something dropped onto his stomach. Jaune leaned up and heaved for air. What happened was that Cinder stepped on his stomach to get him to wake up.

"That was uncalled for."

"I know, but I had to check if you were still alive."

Jaune was about to say something but Cinder had her foot raised again to hurt him. He rolled his eyes again as Cinder raised her head in victory. Jaune begrudgingly lifted himself up as the doors opened up. The moonlight assaulted his eyes as Cinder walked out first.

His feet touched the concrete then Jaune saw it. The crappy sidewalk to him house. The place he lived in was rather okay at best to say about it. To Jaune though, it was still home. He walked out with a smile.

"Is he always like this?" Sky turned to Cinder.

"Not really. Tonight's just a special occasion." Cinder brushed herself off on various bits of dirt.

"Good, well, headquarters expects you be at your new drop box location in 10 hours." Sky opened his jacket then gave her a folder.

"I see." Cinder glanced at the folder. "Well, I guess I'll see you around."

"Same here." Sky walked back to his van.

Jaune walked back into his house with open arms. At the table was a stack of the food he lost when the henchmen snagged him. Jaune flicked the light on to his kitchen to see the same mess from earlier that night.

"Screw that." Jaune gave his kitchen the middle finger as he walked into the living room to see… Fox with a bag of chips. He had the TV on with a movie in the DVD player.

"You're out of Sour Cream and Onion chips." Fox lifted his left hand for him to shake it several times. The potato chips inside shook in his hand.

"Sure thing…Fox." Jaune said. When Jaune said Fox what he really meant was _Jackass_.

 _KIISSCHAK!_ A soda can popped open as Cinder walked into the living room. She walked to the couch and sat down as well. Fox pressed play on the DVD remote for it continue playing.

"I'm going to bed now. When you leave, be sure to write down when in the log book. It's on the kitchen counter and please leave your alias' signature. Otherwise I'm going to have to hassle you about it. We good? Great." Jaune looked away as he entered his bedroom. The door closed lightly as several rumbling sounds came from within the room.

"Thanks for covering for me." Cinder said in a low tone.

"No problem." Fox replied as he offer the bag of chips for Cinder to grab a handful.

The two continued to watch the next movie. Mad Dax: Angry Road.

He took off his hoodie, shirt, and pants. Then he dropped to his bed. Jaune adjusted his arms to pull his pillow closer to his head. Just the comforting smell of his detergent occupied his nose. Then he drifted off into the embrace of sleep.

 **Well so concludes the very first story arc. Yay! I would appreciate it for some feedback. Grace is still alive… who knows what could happen. ;-) I hope you'll stay tuned for future chapters. Just want to clarify, Grace is NOT Weiss. Thank you for reading.**

 **Benthino:** Yeah something cool to go with the situation.

 **Guest:** Well I wanted to explain it right away but it was still kind of a life threatening situation for Jaune. So I saved the explanation until this chapter. Thank you for reading.

 **AdrianCabanillas:** Thank you so much, have an excellent day.

 **Sdphantom10:** Ohh yeah. I've always wondered what could happen if someone called Cinder "Cindy" in the show. I came to the conclusion that someone would get hurt… a lot. Have a great day.

 **Solomon07:** Another thorough review, I really enjoy to see your thoughts on this story. Jaune kinda got off lucky before the wrench came to play. I wanted to have someone from CRDL show up to be involved in Jaune's new lifestyle. Sky fit that bill perfectly. Thank you so much for reading. You definitely called out Grace's capture. Have a wonderful day.


	7. Chapter 7, One Night Stand

Jaune eyes slowly crept open and after half an hour he spent of wallowing on his bed, he eventually left it to visit the bathroom. Once he took care of his morning business, Jaune walked out into living room. Everything looked nice and neat. It was appreciated and he made his way to the first guest bedroom which Fox used, Jaune knocked four times. No answer, so he opened the door. The bed was made nicely and nothing looked forgotten.

Once he finished checking that room out, Jaune tried the one with Cinder. He made sure to knock eight times before he entered. Nothing came in response. Slowly, Jaune twisted the knob for him to see an empty room with an unmade bed.

"Freaking Cinder." Jaune thought out loud as he walked back to the still messy kitchen. He didn't see much to do, so he shrugged as he kneeled down to pick up the pots and pans. At least it wasn't the new stuff they used in their little sparring match.

He picked up a red pot that was used and opened a cabinet. Once he did so, the hinges of the cabinet door popped off for the brunt of the weight to flash at his hand. Jaune set the pot inside the cabinet and looked to the ceiling with annoyance… then he noticed that a scratch somehow appeared on the ceiling. It wasn't like a crack or anything but a clear almost straight narrow line.

He took a deep breath and looked down. It took 20 minutes for him to clean the kitchen of the bits of food and stuff, Cinder and Fox apparently used. The space beside the sink looked like it was stacked high with dishes but it wasn't a big deal.

Jaune walked to the refrigerator door and popped it open. Inside was a soda can with a sticky note of his name. Jaune picked it up and took the note off. It had a message on the back.

'Saved you the last one. –C'

Jaune scoffed then crumpled up the note and tossed it to his trashcan. It hit the rim and bounced to the floor. He put the can back in the fridge.

' _She just wants me to remember the damn meaty meal._ '

Then with that thought, he remembered to check the counter in the corner. There was a small piece of paper. He looked it over. It had the names Ember Nightshade… which he still thought was a stupid name to have as an alias. The second name was Jun Carter, and Jaune liked that name. It sounded natural and it rolls off the tongue. Both names were written in cursive so one of them must have signed off for the other, not that the agency cared much for it, but it meant the amount of Jaune's paycheck.

' _At least they signed the check out._ '

Jaune looked away from the sheet then glanced at the clock. It read 9:21 in the morning. He had about an hour before he needed to report for work. He got dressed and brushed his teeth.

His hair was a mess but it naturally lowered itself down so it didn't looked like he was struck by lightning. Bed hair never bugged Jaune that much. It was his own hair style and he liked it.

Jaune looked at himself in the mirror with his uniform on that required a pink shirt and white hat. Once he secured his belongings for his pockets, Jaune instinctively reached for his hoodie then stopped himself.

He starred at it.

…

He blinked and looked away.

…

He left his room and closed the door as he left the hoodie on the bed.

The walk to his work wasn't a long one. But it still didn't stop his eyes from darting toward every new car that came in view. It was a five block walk to a small outdoor mini-mall. The kind where it has one good store as it's surrounded by 4 other stores that don't offer much. Then with two food joints on the farthest ends. Dusk and Dawn: Ice Cream. The DnD as he liked to call it.

After having a short mental freak out at the seventh car that passed him, he looked to his right then left and right again to cross the street. No suspicious vans at all… or none that he could see.

He crossed the street and Jaune walked the sidewalk of the mini-mall. He passed 20 or so people including Faunus. Nothing major. While on the sidewalk, Jaune counted 4 vans in the parking lot. It was all arranged so that mini-mall looked more like a strip mall with the stores all lined up for people to see as they drive by.

At the furthest end, Jaune entered the Ice Cream store.

"Morning Neo." Jaune called out as the doorbell ringed above him.

A young woman with pink and chocolate brunette hair looked at him and blinked her eyes. Her uniform was the same as Jaune's. Her position at the store was to be the designated ice cream scooper. Behind her station sat her parasol. Neo tilted her head as she glanced at the clock.

"I know I'm not here at my usual time, I just had a rough night." Jaune waved her off. The darkness under his eyes wasn't something that happened often for him at work.

Neo blinked again.

"I just couldn't get some sleep is all." Jaune tried to downplay the interrogation.

Neo's response was that she slightly raised her chin and narrowed her eyes at him as he walked his work station.

"So I see that you got your umbrella."

Neo walked to him, in eye contact. Which helped put some tension on Jaune since she stood 7 inches shorter than him. The instant she broke eye contact, her left foot came down to Jaune's right foot.

"Ow. Right, right… parasol." Jaune said as Neo walked away. "Gee, you don't have to be so rude about it."

Neo glanced at Jaune again.

"The words are the same thing but just spoken differently." Jaune pleaded.

Neo leaned to her left, angled her head downward and widened her eyes. As she did that her left arm rested at her hip.

"Don't take that tone with me Miss Ice Cream." Jaune chuckled. As he looked out toward the window.

Neo rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh yeah. Did you get to see Diamond Mercenaries and what did you think?" Jaune asked as he noticed that there weren't any customers in sight. So he decided to ramble to Neo.

Neo nodded to the first question then raised her hand and opened her fingers. She shook her palm left and right several times. It was a 'meh' gesture.

"Ah, I thought the same thing. You think movies by now would have bad guys that could aim."

Neo shrugged.

"Also, the guns they're using are so boring now. I forgot how many times I saw an AK-47 or a M92F Beretta.

"Also that guy with the lance was pretty awesome. I think the actor the movie used to replace Spruce Willis was a nice choice. I didn't notice a double and they didn't even use shaky cam."

Neo nodded in agreement.

After Jaune broke the morning ice, the two continued to talk movies. Well, Jaune was the only who did the talking. It wasn't until a half hour later a customer showed up. In the morning, not many people would come for ice cream. Whenever there wasn't anyone in the store, Jaune rambled about whatever as Neo listened to him most of the time. She would stop him when some topics bored her. Jaune didn't mind it though, so he continued to talk away of other stuff. Since the busy time of day wasn't until the afternoon.

Two Weeks Later, Late Evening, Vale Nightclub

The lights of the place beamed over the room. Some green lights shot through the crowd people danced to the deafening sound and bass. The DJ in a red bear helmet raised his hand and lowered it to the beat.

A woman with black shoulder length hair looked out into the crowd.

' _The music tonight sucks._ ' She thought as she slammed her drink. It was a rather weak martini.

At the DJ booth, he raised both hands into the air as fog machines seeped out for the lights to reflect off it. The crowd loved it as the people continued to dance as the music intensified.

They danced as the lights drifted over the crowd again, the Black haired woman spotted a new target. In the crowd was another young woman. Her hair was of a dark blue color, her eyeshadow matched her hair color. The woman's eyes closed as she embraced the music, her legs bent to the beat and she swayed her hips in rhythm. The dress looked to be at half of the length of her upper thighs. The spaghetti strap of the dress waved in her movements. She looked to be in her mid-twenties.

The black haired woman smiled as she tilted her head slightly toward the crowd.

' _You'll do._ '

She placed the empty glass at the counter for the bartender.

"Thanks. Please come again." A man in a black suit and red tie said softly as he turned to another customer.

The black haired woman walked forward. As she did so, a young man in an orange shirt approached her.

"Not interested." She stated. The young man scoffed in defeat and walked away.

The black haired woman danced her way through several people to make it to her target.

The blue haired woman noticed the black haired one as she danced. The blacked haired one made prolonged eye contact with her. The blue haired woman widened her eyes and then narrowed them again in a testing gesture.

It was a challenge.

Finally after the repetitive beat calmed down for it to adjust to a new song. As that happened the black haired woman inched closer to her dance partner. She raised her arms in the air as the music started to speed up again. The lights started to flash on and off.

With every flash, the dark haired woman appeared closer and closer.

So the two were in close proximity with each other. The blue haired woman noticed that her new partner never broke eye contact with her. Then like that, the two danced close to each other for the next three songs.

By the time the fourth song started, the black haired woman had her hands at the blue haired woman's hips.

"What's your name?" The blue haired woman inquired.

"No names… let's just roll with it." The black haired woman said and leaned in for a kiss.

The blue haired woman accepted it. They continued to dance with each other for several minutes more as they approached the bar together.

"Well I can't have a label for you." The blue haired woman pointed out as she signaled the bartender.

"Then call me whatever you like." The black haired woman tilted her head.

"How does Vivian sound?" The blue haired woman asked.

"Sounds terrific." Vivian looked at the bartender. "Can we get two strawberry sunrises?"

The bartender nodded as he turned around to get the right drinks.

"So what do you want me to call you?" Vivian asked.

…

"Call me Anna."

"Sure thing." Vivian smiled as the drinks came to them.

"Compliments from the gentlemen five seats to your left." The bartender nodded.

Vivian looked at the nametag of the bartender. "Thanks, Junior." After she said that, she and Anna looked toward the men who bought their drinks. They saw two plainly dressed men smile toward them.

"As if they have a chance." Anna laughed.

"You read my mind." Vivian turned to Anna. "What to give them a show?"

"Nah." Anna drank her strawberry sunrise in one go. "But I am curious on what your place looks like."

Vivian liked the sound of that and she quickly sent a text through her scroll. They kissed for the men who bought their drinks and quickly left the nightclub. The two of them talked very little to each other but were excited for what would happen. A taxi pulled up for them as Vivian signaled for one.

The taxi stopped. Anna opened the door first and they entered.

Vivian told the driver the address to go too. "Also, if you get there in ten minutes, a 20 lien tip has your name on it."

The drive was just 9 minutes. Vivian paid the taxi driver in full amount with a 40 lien tip for making the drive so fast.

"Thanks Russel." Vivian winked as she closed the taxi's door.

…

Russel glanced toward the women as they held hands. He looked back toward the street.

"… My life sucks." Russel shook his head as he looked out to see if there weren't any cars close by then pulled out of the driveway.

Vivian unlocked the door with her key. She and Anna talked in a low tone as they walked the hall into Vivian's room.

Anna dropped to the bed and looked around the room. The moment Anna looked away, Vivian reached for her lower back and pulled out a carbon knife. It was of a dark green and was in Vivian's left hand. She held it in reverse as the blade drifted along her wrist to keep it from view.

"Nice place you have." Anna continued to stare at the ceiling.

"Thanks." Vivian approached the bed. "I'm ready for some fun."

"Same here." Anna smiled as she looked at Vivian.

Vivian looked to the ceiling and she placed her right hand at her forehead. With a simple wave the black hair rested in her hand as Vivian's real brunette hair fell freely.

"I have a thing for brunettes." Anna pointed out.

Vivian just smiled as she raised her left leg so she could take off her shoe. The blade glimmered in the light… then for it to immediately slide inside the shoe and tossed under the bed. Vivian jumped to the bed as both her laughter and Anna's filled the bedroom.

The Next Morning.

The morning rays entered the bedroom from the one window to the east. Anna opened her eyes to see as her partner for the night was still resting as well. It was a wonderful night.

Then the door opened, and a young man with blonde hair entered the room.

Anna screamed.

"Whoa, whoa!" The blonde stumbled backward with a majority of Anna's clothes in his hands.

"WHO ARE YOU!?" Anna shouted.

"I'm-" Anna screamed over his voice.

The blankets shuffled as Vivian opened her eyes. "What's with the shouting?" She yawned.

Anna frowned at her. "You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend!" Anna kept the blankets over her body.

"I'm-" The blonde pleaded for Anna to cut him off again.

"Shut up." Anna noticed that her clothes was in his hands. "Why do you have my clothes?"

"I just wash and dried them." The blonde pointed out as he inched to a nearby chair.

"Get out! Get out! Get out!"

The blonde nodded as he left the room and closed the door as well.

"Leaving already?" Vivian opened her eyes and leaned up on the bed.

"Yeah…" Anna responded as she quickly got her clothes back on. "You should have told me about your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend." Vivian fanned her mouth.

"He's not? Then what is he?"

"He's my roommate." Vivian woke up fully as she answered the question. "Less than a roommate actually."

…

"Fine. Just never contact me again." Anna fumed. "You should have told me."

"What you should do is give the real Vivian a call. She couldn't stop messaging you on your scroll last night."

Anna stopped dressing herself for a moment. She didn't say anything in response.

After another minute, the bedroom door opened up. The blonde haired man sat at his couch as he unclasped his fingers.

"Um, sorry about this whole thing. I washed your clothes and dried them with an iron. Um, there's a bagel on the kitchen counter for you if you're hungry and I have a cab outside waiting for you. I paid the driver 60 lien to get you where you need to go."

Anna remained silent as she walked past him and down the hall. The blonde stood up and kept a distance. Anna walked into the kitchen for a moment then walked back out with a bagel at her lips.

She took a bite and opened the door.

The blonde made a meaningless smile as his eyes told her that he was sorry.

"Thanks." Anna said as she gave him a middle finger as she walked out.

"Good morning to you too." Jaune raised his hands to the ceiling as he turned around.

"What have I told you about bringing one night stands over?" Jaune leaned against the doorway. By that point, the not real Vivian had a shirt on as well as some shorts. She sat at the bed as she reached for the shoe she discarded last night.

"I heard you Jaune." She took a carbon knife out of the shoe. "I just choose to ignore you."

"That's not fair Coco."

"Whatever. Just go set up the chessboard and I would like a bagel with cream cheese ready by the time I get my stuff situated."

Jaune rolled his eyes as he turned around. "Nice to see you too…"

 **Hey there everybody. I think this chapter came out well. Several days ago I had 4 bottles of snapple tea and a bag of doritos binge to help me with the brainstorming I did for this story. So I got plenty of work ahead of me. Welp, Coco and Neo have showed up. So please, tell me what you think in a review. Have an awesome day.**

 **Bronyhood of Steel:** Thank you.

 **zerevenge:** Who knows? It could mean something else. Have an excellent day.

 **crossargon:** The future is uncertain. ;-) Well we'll just have to wait and see if that'll happen. Have a great day.

 **curious viewer:** Thank you for your kind words. Also, I think a lot of things popped in people's minds when they heard the term 'Mortality Rate.' Have a nice day.

 **Benthino:** Yeah. The Shadow Raid was a success… whatever that is. ;-) Yeah, Jaune did get pretty lucky. Dust medicine works wonders. Have a great day.

 **AdrianCabanillas:** Fox is Fox. Thanks for reading.

 **sdphantom10:** Well it just depends on who is asking to define 'family.' Wow, thank you for your kind words and your review on Crocea Conquerors by the way. For this story I wasn't sure how it would do in the beginning, but I'm happy you're enjoying the ride I'm building. Have a wonderful day.

 **Solomon07:** You have very excellent guesswork observations. You have my appreciation on the thought you put forth on your reviews. It increases my own excitement to work on this story each week. You can never talk too much. I think it helps with people who check out the review section. Thank you so much for reading and have a most awesome day.


	8. Chapter 8, Fun with Chess

The night before Coco's morning.

The day started off like how it normally would on the arrival of a visitor. The night of her visit, Jaune got his copy of a new fancy videogame he spent months following the news to. He bought it and after playing it for five minutes, that was when he got Coco's message. He flicked out his scroll and read it.

Hey Juan, I have the next several days off and I heading to your place with a friend.-Coco.

Jaune shrugged as he finished the message. He looked back at the clock and it was rather late in the evening and he didn't want to 'block' Coco. When that happens, she gets a bit unruly the next day. So he turned off his game and walked to his room to go to bed early.

The morning.

The birds outside chirped in low tones and didn't do much but help distract from Coco. The butter knife he had in hand helped smear a new set of strawberry cream cheese bagels. Two of Coco and one for himself. While he did that, he turned his radio on to listen to the world events.

"From the current press conference from the Valean Council, a new supplement of the security forces has been declared to be a militia and will provide assistance to the Atlesian Military. It is believed that this effort is able influence the White Fang Rebellion to the idea of surrender. Now that the current troop movement has practically doubled in size. The use of the increased soldier limit has been called to question that whether to not modernized weapons should be used in the place of the extra soldier supply. No comment has been issued by the Council. None the less, the decision has been called into question."

"Everybody loves a little war." Jaune muttered to himself as he finished buttering the first bagel.

"On the World News, the Mistralan kingdom his still planning to hold the annual gala of the tournament outcomes next week. There all contenders will come and reflect on the event. News Crews and various media will attend the event."

Jaune shrugged to himself. ' _Why bother?_ '

"Hey Jaune? Where do you keep your spare shampoo?" Coco called out.

"Below the sink. On the far left side." ' _Why do you have to ask me about it? It's not like I change the layout at all._ ' He finished the second bagel.

"In other news, actor Spruce Willis has decided to become the director to the next Tower of Glass movie. This will be the 7th entry into the franchise. Isn't that exciting?" The woman's voice on the radio brought her voice up to sound excited.

"Sweet." Jaune smiled to himself. Like always, Jaune loves movies so another Tower of Glass is something he won't miss.

"The movie will-" The radio was cut off as Coco entered the kitchen. She wore her usual t-shirt that was a size too big for her. Along with comfortable shorts she loved to wear.

"My status is on break, for two days. I'll probably just stay here for both days." Coco scratched the back of her head. "I put the gear and clothes that need get looked after in my spare duffle bag. Take care of that would you?"

"Sure." Jaune offered Coco her bagels on a paper towel.

"How often do you listen to that?"

"What?" Jaune said by reflex.

"Moron." Coco took one the bagels in hand. "The radio."

"Usually every other day. As much as I like TV, it really says something when I stare at the TV for the News Anchor to stare back at me. It's like I'm being talked down as if I'm in school." Jaune replied.

"Hmm." Coco responded as she took a bite of the bagel. She lifted her chin toward the living room and widened her eyes. "Control the media, control the mind. Didja do the thing?"

"No, I didn't set up the chess board."

Coco frowned at him.

"Well I can't set up a board and make breakfast at the same time. I mean, I did just help you chase off your latest sleeping buddy." Jaune replied before she could finish chewing.

Coco glared at him and punched him on his shoulder.

"Ow." It didn't hurt at all but it was fun to get back at people when he uses logic. Most of the agents that come by don't like his sense of humor much. Coco's throat flexed as she swallowed the bites of the bagel.

"Did anything interesting happen lately?"

"Nah not really. Work is work and I got a new videogame yesterday." Jaune slightly flexed his leg. Just a minor sting responded to him. Since the Shadow Raid, Jaune has slowly gotten better. It was just a prolonged feeling of a sting just annoyed him at the moment.

"Uh huh." Coco said before she took another bite.

Jaune shrugged as he followed her to the living room. Coco dropped down on the couch. Nothing bugged her as she watched Jaune walked to the far left side of the entertainment center. It was a small cabinet and inside was a narrow box. Jaune took it out and was a special chess set. Hunter's Edition.

A box that had the coolest chess pieces around. Sure there were sets that were made of glass or some kind reference to a movie franchise but this one, was entirely made out of bullets. Actual bullets, and the rules of chess still applied. The exception being that 9mm bullets would act as the pawns, 12 gauge shotgun shells were the rooks, the queen piece was a 50 caliber bullet and so forth. How the chess board came into Jaune's possession was never explained but Coco wanted to play a game.

"Are you sure about this?" Jaune smiled.

"Fuck you." Coco rolled her eyes. The pieces were divided into two sides. One set of bullets was colored green and the other side was purple.

"Alright then." Jaune got the side he usually had to use and it was purple. Coco got green and she usually started off as the player who makes the first move.

Coco took another bite as Jaune placed the board on the coffee table. After a minute, all the pieces were in place.

Coco frowned as she took hold of a pawn on her left side of the board. She moved it forward two spaces so she could make room for her bishop and rook piece. Jaune responded as he moved one of his knight pieces to skip over his pawns. The wall was already in place.

"Did you ever get that war lord?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah, killed his men and I blew up his compound. He's at the hand of the Vacuo Authorities. He's gonna fry next month. Coco moved her rook piece on her second move.

"Ah, I think I heard that on the radio like 3 days ago." Jaune moved his second knight.

Coco scanned the board as she moved her bishop which had a straight shot at his one of is knights. From experience, Jaune just loves his knight pieces. Jaune reacted as he moved a pawn to block the path. There wasn't anything for him to use in a counter attack, so Coco moved her bishop to claim the first kill of the game.

"Ha." Coco beamed a smile.

"Not bad." Jaune nodded to her as that pawn he moved made room for his Queen to make a kill on the bishop. He didn't bother to say anything as he moved the bishop from the board… which was Coco's favorite piece.

"Sonovabitch."

Jaune shrugged. As that set the tone for the game. On every attack plan Coco made, was met with a roadblock from Jaune. The game continued for another 45 minutes as Coco stared at the board. Two thirds of her forces were wiped out and Jaune still had his queen, a rook, knight and bishop on the field. In her defense was a rook and two pawns. She knew a way to trap Jaune's king piece but she couldn't do that without risking the last of her pieces.

"It's been two minutes…" Jaune yawned.

"My hand's still on the piece." Coco snapped back at him.

"You know you could-"

"Shut it." Coco lashed out of him. Coco moved her rook to move just one space to its left. It was a staling move. Jaune fanned his mouth as he moved his queen forward into close range to her king.

"Check."

Coco blinked. She looked at the board from every angle. The queen was backed up by the rook even if she killed the queen, Jaune's bishop would move to his right and cover the same space of her king's escape path.

In response, Coco used her rook to kill Jaune's queen. Jaune retaliated with a bishop to her rook. Coco started to fume angry thoughts as she used her pawn to kill the bishop. The game went to a stale mate as one of Jaune's pawns made it across the board for him to swap it out for a queen. Then three moves later, the queen was in killing distance of her king and she was protected by his rook.

"Checkmate."

Coco sighed as she knocked over her king piece then leaned back on the couch.

"How many does that make now?"

"Seven I think." Jaune replied as he started to place the pieces inside the box.

"I'm going to get you, one of these days." Coco smiled.

"I'm sure you will." Jaune said in a light tone. He looked at a clock and it displayed itself at 8:54am.

"I don't have to go to work until an hour from now, I'll get your clothes ready and I'll finish them when I get back." Jaune looked at Coco. "Sound good?"

"Can't you call in sick today? I'm going to get bored in a couple of hours." Coco moved forward from the couch and took hold of one of the remotes at the coffee table. She turned it on and started to flick through the channels. Jaune looked at the ceiling and sighed to himself. Sure he could just leave his home for an agent to mess with his stuff. Or he could just call in today since he never really takes time off, well with his job, it wasn't that difficult.

"Sorry, but I got my own life to live." Jaune answered.

"The life the Shadow Raid gave to you?" Coco looked away from the TV.

Jaune flinched at the mention of it.

"I know because Grace was taken in. A criminal by our standards and isn't something people at the agency can't talk about in hush tones. The men are so uptight about it, the women however…" Coco smiled.

"Yeah, I don't need the details." Jaune waved her off on the discussion.

"How's the leg?"

"Better. It doesn't need bandages anymore." Coco started to flick through the channels.

"It was mentioned in a report, you can't say anything about it but the agents and personal involved have to construct one. But not many of them mentioned much about you though. Written off as an expendable asset but one that was saved none the less."

"Well one of them mentioned I was just a side objective." Jaune shrugged.

Coco glanced at him. "I'm just surprised on how you encountered her before."

"I take it you read the report of the night I became involved with the agency?" Jaune leaned against a wall as he knew this conversation might take a while.

"I did."

"Well after I helped out one your own, there was a series of attacks on my home, car, and out on the streets." Jaune raised his left hand to collar of his shirt. The skin looked fine until a darkened scar was visible. "I got this from one of the firefights. I'm not sure who did it but I know there were 4 of them who attacked us."

"So you think Grace was one of them?" Coco asked upfront. Normally she would have worded her question better but this was Jaune. He wasn't some guy with an ulterior motive all the time.

"Probably. I explained to Sky and Velvet that they had some serious hardware. Like Hunter's gear and weapons. Plus, they really wanted your agent dead."

"So you know next to nothing."

"Yeah, that sums it up." Jaune shrugged.

Coco hummed to herself. "Alright, thanks for telling me that."

"Sure." Jaune moved his back away from the wall.

"When do you get off work?" Coco asked.

"Around 4 today. Why?"

"I need to do some recon later." Coco placed the remote at the table and took hold of one of his video game controllers.

"I don't feel like going shopping." Jaune's voice droned down a bit as he pleaded not to go out again.

"Too bad, you're here for us and this is part of your job. You did sign the contract." The screen flashed as the game started. "I need my favorite pack mule."

"I hate you." Jaune lifted his hands in the air as he walked Coco's room for her duffle bag.

"I hate you too." Jaune scoffed at her as he moved toward the basement. Coco pressed a button for the game to load up. She realized how odd how Jaune didn't cross his arms as he leaned against the wall. Normally when that happens, a person is getting defensive…

' _Odd._ ' She thought to herself as took the video game headset in hand.

"Alright, jerkoffs. You ready to lose?" Coco started up the online multiplayer to one of Jaune's games. She felt like playing a shooter. Call of Battleduty 9, the most popular shooter on the market currently.

Jaune opened the bag for him to find the usual assortment of gear. A belt that needs the pockets removed and replaced. A dull blood stained steel knife. Her favorite side arm, the M1911 pistol. He inspected the current state of it. The barrel looked fine and the chamber has no problem locking and opening on command while the pin clicks with no issue at all. He glanced at the grip and it looked mangled somewhat. What drew him in was that one half of the grip leaned forward, while the other half leaned backward.

' _It looks like she's been hitting people over on the head again… Wait, is that blood? Oh boy. She interrogated a guy that explains it._ '

Jaune placed the pistol down on a table. Well a crate, but he used as a table.

In the bag, several bits of clothing smelled funny and he need to wash them out. A pair of combat pants had a series of very specific cuts to them.

' _Come on Coco._ ' Jaune didn't want to know the story that went along with them.

Jaune did the basics as he moved all the clothes into the washer and set it on a prolonged was on cold. For Coco, she preferred if her clothes were comfortable and looked nice. Which was an understatement since she had several newly purchases shirts to wear. She doesn't like to wear the new stuff until it went through the washer first. Once he set that up, the blade, pistol and belt were on his personal table. Arranged for him get to work on when he would come back from work.

He looked at the clock and it told him he had thirty minutes to get going. He opened the door.

"Hurry up, you retard. Call in the damn airstrike so I can use my Dust napalm." Coco shouted back at the various gamers she was in a match with. She had fun messing with the ones who would flirt with her.

Jaune laughed lightly to himself as he walked passed her to his room to get ready for work. It took him 15 minutes to get his uniform ready. When he walked out his room, he noticed the TV flashed red. She muted the headset.

"See you later." Jaune said as he walked by.

"A chess game when you get back?" Coco asked.

"Sure thing." Jaune waved as he walked down the hallway. He opened the door and smiled the warm sun, the smell of clean grass, and the daytime moon was in clear view for his day.

 **Another chapter down. Yay, the days to Volume 3 are getting ever closer. I'm so excited and I want to know what happens darn it! Oh well, hype aside, thank you for reading the latest chapter. Have an excellent day.**

 **Bethino:** Yeah, go Coco. Weaponista Fashionista is a cool title for her to have.

 **Rihan K.A.:** Thank you. I wasn't sure how people would have taken to this idea I had. I just have fun working with the characters and how they might operate in the world of the story. Yeah, Jaune is that kind of person to be there for people. Have a great day.

 **Gammabeta99:** Thank you for reading.

 **Solomon07:** Yeah, it was really predictable for Neo's part of the story. Its rather fun to write her since she chooses not to speak. With her as his coworker, he probably must have a good level of interaction. Her name does sound bad but yet cool at the same time. Coco is pretty fun. I hope you enjoyed her in this chapter. Have a great day.

 **thehidden6lade:** *Takes cookie* Thank you for the digital cookie.


	9. Chapter 9, Stealthing

The same night of Coco's One Night Stand

"GAH!" A man groaned as there was a pinch at his throat. By reflex the man what he was doing and reached for his neck. A steady stream of warm fluids oozed out and he couldn't speak. With another motion, a blade pierced his lower back and ripped through his organs. The blade in his back burned so much more once it was twisted and the strength of his body just dissipated. Without much difficulty, the man stumbled to his right and looked up to see a woman in black clothing.

It took another 20 seconds to fully bleed out.

"I'm in." A woman informed her analyst as she dragged the body into a dark corner. It was messy but she didn't have the time to be thorough.

"Copy. Get moving." A young woman with two sprouting rabbit ears looked through her computer screen. She had shoulder length brunette hair. The analyst narrowed her almond eyes as she watched the camera Blake had on her outfit.

"What's the word?" The woman hide her knife then drew her pistol. The halls had a dim light to them and as she moved, the lights spontaneously flickered as she passed them.

"Not much, the phone calls that we're tapped aren't yielding any results. Hurry up Blake." Velvet type some new information and converse with several other analysts at the same time.

"Roger." Blake checked her corners of the building she was sent in to investigate.

A small funding transfer company had several bits of off putting information. The kind that's related to finding a dangerous criminal by the name of Gerald Wellspring. A person who developed technology that were technically under contract of Vale. This arms dealer was part of the design team that worked on very specific weapons that shouldn't be in the hands of the open market.

"One of the guards will investigate the guard you killed." Velvet frowned as she didn't like that there were already bodies being added to the mission. Not that it mattered to command anyway, these were all mercenaries of with morally questionable backgrounds.

"Roger." Blake flicked her fingers as she drew a small pair of lock picks. The place she infiltrated was an office building with security way too efficient for its own good. This was a target of the agency for months and tonight was the third attempt at this same complex.

"The first guard group is still on standby." Velvet pointed out as she double checked the layout of the building.

"From here, you need to make a left turn."

As soon as Blake heard that, she followed the directions to the letter. However, in spite of the stolen data, it was still out of date by two years. Blake nearly ran into a wall. From what the company told the city, the floorplans are clearly not reliable from this point onward.

"Dead end. I'm moving on my own from here. Clear?" Blake stated as she noticed a guard down the hallway and there as a turn to her right into an office space room. Dozens of cubicles spread out and made for plenty places Blake could hide. It took another 3 minutes until she was back out in the hallway again.

"Are you near the main offices yet?" Velvet asked.

"Almost." Blake opened a small office door as she entered one of the main facility offices. This one belonged to the CEO of the building. The files here were most likely kept deep within its own security.

On the opposite side of the building

 _CRACK!_

A bone cracked a forearm was split in half under the skin. The owner of that bone wanted to scream but her mouth was covered as she was punched in the throat. From there, her attacker dashed in again and grabbed the center of her neck and lifted her into the air and slammed her one the asphalt. Her spine was fractured on the fall.

"The route out is clear." The attacker informed Velvet.

"I heard." Velvet responded.

"Don't worry, she'll live." A young man in a disguise of a green silk shirt whispered. "It'll just take 8 months of physical therapy." The man leaned down and dragged the guard woman away from the open space. The backdoor alley was clear enough for Blake to escape from.

"I don't need to know the details." Blake frowned as she started a small linkup with her a PDA she needed for Velvet to hack into the computer.

"The route out is as clear as I could make it."

Blake didn't respond back as she heard footsteps in the hallway outside of the office. Without hesitation, Blake drew her Glock 18 pistol and aimed to at the doorway. It was a shame too. She didn't bring enough ammunition to shoot her way out.

"Checkpoint 7 and 9 haven't been checking in." A guard informed his coworker.

"Take a team and check it out. Jenson probably forgot to turn his radio on again."

"Already on it." The first guard responded.

"They're on to you Blake. Time to pull out!" Velvet shouted in Blake's ear.

"No, the program is almost through." Blake stared into her PDA.

"Blake, get out of there. Seven agents have already died this month and we don't need to make you the 8th."

"This as close as we gotten to the data. We're not going to let this slip through our fingers again." Blake glanced back down at the computer as the files of it finally opened up as the screen saver was a picture of a nude woman. "Classy."

It took another 30 seconds as the program rummaged through the files and databanks. There still wasn't much for them to do besides worry about the guards that wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in Blake's skull. These guards already did to a few other agents before.

Finally, the screen went red and her PDA lit up with a green status bar.

"I got the files!" Blake smiled in a loud whisper.

"Great, now get out of there!" Velvet nearly stood out of her chair.

Blake removed the cord she brought with her as well as holstering her pistol. She looked up again to see a woman in a guard uniform stare at her.

"Damn." Blake said as the office flashed orange with gunfire.

Dusk and Dawn: Ice cream, the next day

"Thank you and have a nice day." Jaune smiled as he passed off a double scoop chocolate ice cream.

"Don't tell me what to do." The customer he served snapped at him. From there, the woman walked out with her head held high. He high heels clumped along the concrete to leave an echo through the mini-mall.

Jaune didn't want to waste the brain power on complaining about the _customer_. Instead he looked back at Neo. She stood there staring off into space. She blinked her eyes several times and they shifted color, from chocolate brown, a light strawberry and vanilla white. Neo didn't mind much that happened at the work place. She's been here longer than Jaune has. According to the manager, she didn't know if Neo wanted to be an employee here. But she was listed there before she became manager as well.

"Got anything cool going on this weekend?" Jaune wanted to break the monotony of silence.

Neo looked at Jaune then shrugged. From there, she nodded to main glass window which had a picture of the newest live action movie that was being over hyped. It was the latest movie from Skyward studios.

"So you're going to see Harrowing Hills 5.5?"

Neo shrugged. She glanced toward the main center of the building and nothing of true note warranted her attention. Besides the several sticky spots that clearly reflected off from the sunlight. Of course, Neo looked at Jaune.

Neo was the kind of person that didn't like to talk very much. Of course, she didn't like to be overt in her body language as well. Over time, Jaune became accustomed to learn what Neo would "say" most of the time. It came down to her staring at him then a subtle reaction she would give off. Like a blink of the eye, a twitch, a smirk, or even…

A solid plastic object struck the every center of Jaune's foot.

"Ow." Jaune lifted his foot up and started to hop in a circle.

"That's not cool."

Neo narrowed her eyes then opened her palms then separated them as her left hand had her _parasol_ lean off. She gestured to the whole store.

"Yes that pun was fully intended!" Jaune winced. "You know, you could just ask me to do it." He shook his head at her. Neo silently chuckled at his expense again as he walked to the supply closet.

With a spray bottle and a washcloth in hand. Jaune spritzed the counters and table for germs. He spent a good 10 minutes working to on that.

Jaune just stared outside of the window as his brain slowly turned to mush. As far as he could tell, Neo appeared to be perfectly unaffected by the job. Jaune blinked several times as he tried to prevent himself from falling asleep. His eyes grew heavy and he nodded off several times. Neo noticed this of course and didn't see the need to wake him. So in an effort to kill some time, she walked into the bathroom. For what, no one knows…

The door opened up and a tiny bell rung over it.

"Falling asleep on the job again I see?" A masculine voice had Jaune open his eyes.

"Oh hey, Neptune." Jaune yawned. "How's it going?"

"Not bad, not bad." Neptune looked up and leaned in. "Can I have cookie dough ice cream with mint ice cream? With a waffle cone of course."

Jaune nodded to the order then proceeded with the order. Neptune was a man in his late twenties, tall, slim build, and had natural blue hair… At least, that's what Neptune liked to joke about when he first met Jaune. He was dressed in a red button coat, with orange googles at his forehead with brown carpenter pants. If one to glance at him, someone could assume he was in his late teens.

Jaune got the ice cream in his hand then handed it off the Neptune. He paid the appropriate amount as it handed it off to him. Neptune smiled then walked to the doorway saying his goodbye. The sun was staring to set as the orange glow seeped over the landscape. He licked his ice cream several times. He smiled a woman that walked passed him and Neptune walked one block away from the ice cream shop.

Neptune's expression drifted from cheerful to stern in a matter of seconds. He passed an alleyway then cast his ice cream aside then looked both ways across the street. Once he passed the alley, two men revealed themselves of behind some walls. One was tall with short hair and looked to be over six feet tall. The other had pale skin, crimson hair and a black coat over his shoulder. The three of them nodded to each other and walked off into the darkened alley as Neptune's expression went from stern… to pissed off.

"This is our case. What gives command the right to pass it off like that!?" Neptune snarled as the crimson haired one spoke up.

"They tried to pull the plug, something in the mission wasn't part of the task at hand." He said in a somber tone.

"This is bullshit and you know it." Neptune frowned and the three men continued their walk through the alleyway. Two cars waited for them in a garage several blocks away.

Back at the Ice Cream shop.

Jaune casually pulled away the second layer of paper from the money Neptune paid with. Neo was still in the bathroom, so it was the best time for Jaune to do this. It was a note from another agency. The one Neptune worked for… and the money he paid with, were layered with a note on a one dollar bill.

It read- Operatives compromised, several causalities confirmed. This is now transferred to Valean Intelligence. Your command wants you to prepare 2,100 rounds of ammunition, several handguns, and SMGs for an upcoming operation. Confidential. Current orders are on stand-by until contacted again upon further notice.

Jaune nodded to the note then crumbled it up and opened his mouth. He really hated this part of the job. He widened his mouth then stuffed the note in his mouth then chewed on it some then swallowed it. The substance used for the sticky attachment had a bitter taste to it and left his taste buds in a tangy state. Jaune looked back down to see a customer staring directly at him with widened eyes.

Jaune blinked… "Hello, welcome to Dusk and Dawn. What kind of ice cream do you want?" He smiled nervously.

The customer shook his head then left the establishment. Neo stood at the door of the bathroom with raised eyebrows.

"I happen to like the taste." Jaune lied through his teeth.

Neo shook her head and smiled at his expense.

"Yeah well… you're a jerk." Jaune crossed his arms and hoped that he clock could somehow accelerate the time. Jaune licked his teeth some more as the taste was still on his tongue…

 **Well, I'm baaaaaccccckkkkkk (cough cough). Ahem, sorry for the delay. College life has really hit me hard in recent weeks. I still want to work on this story as well as my other works. So I probably won't be able to update as fast like I was in the past. I hope you liked the chapter and have an excellent day.**

 **eugino4079:** Thank you for your kind words. Well, that's a spoiler, and I don't do spoilers. ;-) Have a great day.

 **Bethino:** Yeah, chess games. Pretty soothing… until your opponent takes forever to go on their turn. Thank you very much Comrade, praised be the motherland.

 **thehidden6lade:** Yeah, I had the same thought about the chess board. I'm not sure if they exist but it would be awesome if such chess boards do. The train has finally stopped for the destination all RWBY fans were waiting for. I love it so far. Fork, I'm not good enough with chopsticks please. Domo arigato.


	10. Chapter 10, A Glock and a Pork Chop

Two Days Later

Jaune rubbed his eyes because they itched. He knew it would make them feel worse but he couldn't help it.

 _Rakka rakka rakka!_ A hallway lit up with orange flashes. Several figures in the distance shook form the impact as one of them toppled over. One of them was missing a head.

A two second pause.

 _RAKKA!_ The gun fired again.

"It seems a little off to me." A voice called out.

"What do you mean?" Jaune replied.

"I'm not sure." The voice replied then turned to the blonde helper.

"I have the sight set as best as I could do. Also, are you sure it's not because I modified it to have a smaller grip? You told me that your M1911 didn't _feel right_ in your palm." Jaune walked up to the person.

"Yeah I remember telling you. It's just that this one probably isn't for me. Got something more that could help me out on an assassination job? I think that'll be going down in several months." The voice stated as Jaune took the weapon it had then aimed down the sights.

"Well I don't exactly see what you mean. I think there's something else you could use for the short range."

Jaune walked away from the person then turned to a table that was ten yards away. As he walked, Jaune ejected the magazine from the MP-7 Sub Machine gun. It was a shame too, Jaune worked on this weapon for hours but he guessed that someone else could like it. He took out two more _toys_.

The day before this current visitor, Coco stuck around to do some shopping after Jaune came back home. They did and got some pizza for the way back. The very next morning, Coco was gone and left her name in the sign in sheet.

Today, a new person came by his house. He was asked to help this person get acquainted with a new weapon to use for their next assignment. The weekend was about to start and so it didn't mess with his job at all. They're at a private shooting range out toward the outskirts of Vale.

He walked back with them in hand as well as some extra clips of ammunition.

"What you got?"

"Let's see, from the good old Special Forces we got the Mini-Uzi. If you want something a bit smaller, here's a Glock 17." Jaune passed both weapons off as the person smiled at him.

"Let me see the Glock first, please."

"Sure." Jaune shrugged as he passed the weapon off then held onto the Mini-Uzi. The spare magazines were placed on a small foldout table then he looked downrange.

"She's set on full auto." Jaune added before the gun was unleashed to the targets downrange.

Casings rained down from the guns and Jaune noticed that the person he was told to help had a slight smile on her face. He looked back down the range of the humanoid targets whiff in the wind then set themselves straight again. Once it was done, Jaune opened his scroll and pressed several buttons. The target pulled up a hologram and it displayed the regions where the bullets landed.

"Seems like you have thing for aiming below the belt" Jaune chuckled. In the inside, he would hate to be the enemy this agent faces.

"Of course, too many times I've encountered a target that wants to run away than fight us." This agent was a young woman with strawberry hair that were combed back so it leaned on her left shoulder. Since it was her off time, the woman wore tight sky blue tank top with some cut up jeans. There was a tattoo that looped around her upper left arm, just below the elbow. If Jaune didn't know her and had to guess at a distance, he would assumed that she was a teenager.

.

.

.

"You're not going to ask?" The woman turned to Jaune.

"Ask what?"

"The times I wished I shot people in the legs?"

"I don't want to."

"Suit yourself." She shrugged.

Jaune looked at his watch it would be getting dark soon. Jaune didn't like to stay out too late at night.

"Are you good? We might want to head back now."

"Sure." The woman glanced back to the table. "I'm taking the Glock."

"Great choice." Jaune lightly smiled.

 _Vrrt Vrrt!_

Jaune reached for his back pocket and took out his scroll. There were several messages in his inbox. Only a few of them were ones he cared about and this new one was for his job. He pressed the button for it to be displayed and his mouth winced. He packed the rest of his stuff in the case he brought with him and kicked down the rollers. Carrying all of this stuff would be hell on his back.

"Yo, you coming or what?" The woman asked.

"Yeah, but we're going to need to make stop on the way back." Jaune responded then jogged after the woman.

The walk outside of the shooting range was quiet and Jaune made sure to stand behind the woman out of curiosity. Of course some of the people/faunus here are gun enthusiasts and most of them wanted to know what the case Jaune rolled out of the place carried inside. It was the gear he brought with him on the private shooting range he had reserved for earlier.

The woman walked out through the front door first then waited. Jaune passed through the doors after he signed out at the front desk. The parking lot outside was completely open and there were only a dozen cars in a lot meant for fifty. Above them, was the orange glow of the sun and it was on the verge of setting.

"Hey."

"Yeah?" Jaune looked left and right to check for any incoming cars.

"Where did you learn how to handle weapons?" She asked the moment Jaune found an opening.

"I'm ex-special forces and when I was discharged from thinking my best friend was killed. I feel too tired on being on the front line." Jaune immediately replied. "In all honesty, of all the free time I have now. I think I might have to come back."

"Wait. Really?"

Jaune laughed at her expense. "You need to master on how to read people's poker faces."

"You're an asshole."

He smiled then pressed a button for a car to beep back at him. "That I am."

The trunk popped open and he lifted his case to place it inside. "Alright, did you want to hit up a place on the way back?" Jaune closed the trunk.

"Nah, I'm good."

"Alright, but I need to make a detour on the way back. But it won't take long."

1 Hour Later

Jaune pulled his rental car up and slowed down as he reached the turnoff before he goes home. The woman didn't mind and used her scroll to entertain herself as they returned to Jaune's home. There were moments Jaune tried to make conversation but nothing didn't move forward from one word conversations. Jaune must have guess it was because he messed with her earlier. The car slowed down at the driveway and the headlights dimmed.

"We're here." Jaune opened the driver's door.

"Not bad." The woman nodded. "Your lawn could use some work though."

In the darkness, Jaune glanced to his front lawn. In the front end and in sparse patches the grass waved in a gentle breeze. Over half of it was nothing but dirt as well. Weeds spouted all over and even the dandelions were barely visible under the darkened amethyst sky. There were seven dandelions in total for the yard which was odd. With them being weeds, it could have multiplied even further. From the way the entire lawn appeared to be that it could use some work, but Jaune just shrugged at it.

"Come on." Jaune opened the trunk first and took out his case. From there, the two of them walked on the narrow pathway to the front door. He didn't notice that as he walked, he stepped on one of the dandelions.

Jaune took out his house key but frowned. The woman glanced back as Jaune took hold of the doorknob and twisted it clockwise. It was unlocked.

'Every time you do this.' Jaune thought then sighed.

"I already have a guest here."

The woman frowned then drew her Glock. "Who?"

"An agent of Vale. Let me go talk and I'll be right back." Jaune suggested as he turned the light on to his kitchen. The woman walked in and kept her eyes at the entrance.

Jaune left his case in the living room and he immediately turned to the bathroom that was connected to his bedroom. The light was already on as Jaune turned at the corner.

"Took you long enough." An annoyed woman frowned at him.

"Again, this was last minute. No use getting pissed off at me." Jaune crossed his arms as he looked into the bathroom.

Cinder sat at the toilet with the lip down and her legs were over the edge of the bathtub. It wasn't like she was comfortable but rather in a bit of pain. Several tears of blood were easy to see at her forehead, her calf, and the left hip. Blood dripped down to the bathroom mate and it was just something else to be washed. Cinder was dressed in women's boxers that were of a dark blue and as for her upper body, she was dressed in a black long sleeve shirt that was lifted over her stomach. So she could see the cut at her hip. At the corner of the bathroom, was a pair of discarded jeans that had a clear indention of a person's hand at the ankles. Her right leg was exposed and had several splotches of dried blood but nothing looked serious. Her lower lip was cracked with bits of red would leak out but Cinder would lick it before it dripped any further. Jaune leaned against his doorway.

"Sorry for the mess." Cinder pointed out as she didn't look away from the first aid box that Jaune always kept under the sink.

"Don't worry about it." Jaune noticed that most of the blood appeared to be fresh. "Do I have to enact the security protocol?"

"No, I killed the target before she got away. Damn bitch just loved to use a machete for some reason." Cinder grunted at she poured a dab of cleaning alcohol on her cuts. "She doesn't have an arm anymore."

Jaune rolled his eyes. "Well I already have a person here to stay for an assignment coming up."

"Oh yeah?" Cinder looked up. "Who is it?"

"No names, all I know is that she was sent in from Atlas and her codename is Neon Katt." Jaune looked to his bedroom door to see Neon Katt the ready to storm the bathroom.

"Relax Katt, it's me, Cinder." She called out as she leaned forward to reach for a bandage.

"Ah." Katt lowered her gun.

"Awesome." Jaune said blankly. "You two know each other. Cinder, fill Katt in on how things work here."

Jaune turned around and left his room to the car outside. He left some groceries in the trunk. He might as well get started cooking since Cinder has someone to talk to.

"A bit odd that one." Katt stated as she walked into the bathroom as well.

"Yeah." Cinder winced again in pain with some more cleaning alcohol she dabbed her finger in it and applied it to her lip.

"What's the news on your end?"

"Well, the two separate leads I've been working on have been total busts. The first lead took me to a small time lawyer's firm that didn't have anything related to White Fang forces. Just me scouting it out and making some blackmail to the main accountant and their records don't have anything either. The second lead of me going downtown to see that Charles guy, he didn't hear anything about any weapon trades or anything in the like. We were lead to that conclusion from the documents Fox procured a while ago. It doesn't make sense." Cinder got a needle and stitches at the ready.

"I see. I heard rumors that the Vacuo branch were lead to dead ends as well. It looks like we have a trained ghost that really doesn't want to leave a trail." Katt nodded.

"What has been the objective since this whole rebellion started?"

"Vale doesn't care about the armed conflict, but there is no way a group of activists turned terrorists could have mobilized an entire army to wage a small war. While Atlas worries about the spread of the conflict, Vale only wants to know who could have started this in the first place. It just seems too perfect for something like this to happen."

Katt and Cinder spent a moment to go silent. Katt was the first to speak up again.

"Well in the Atlas agencies think this could have been done by Mistral extremists. About four years ago, there was a small influx of guns to the angered sub-factions believing the land still belonged to the Faunus."

"Well, they're not wrong." Cinder added.

"Whatever, so we suspected the man named Roman Torchwick to be the one to manage such and ignite a war but he's been sitting pretty in Vacuo. All the surveillance done has done nothing to show any suspicion of the criminal on such a matter."

"So I take it that was a dead end Atlas sent you on?" Cinder finished the last of her stitches.

"Yeah. A couple of agents have turned up dead. One in Mistral, Two in Atlas, and Four in Vacuo." Katt moved her hand under her chin. "What about Vale?"

"None." Cinder lowered her shirt to cover her stomach.

"Figures." Katt shrugged. "Were you summoned here as well?"

"Yeah. I got the word from command and here we are." Cinder took her pants and it was covered in blood at the knee and left ankle. "A contact will arrive here some time tonight."

"Copy that." Katt stepped out the way. "The assassin sure did a number on your leg."

"The blood isn't mine." Cinder smirked.

The both of them left the bedroom and Cinder wondered off into the guest room to get a new set of clothes. Katt sat down at the couch and kicked her legs up on the coffee table. Cinder came back and peeked into the kitchen.

Cinder saw Jaune hover over the stove again and she looked to Jaune's left and noticed a nice pile of meat ready to be cooked. She licked her lips in anticipation. It looked like it would involve something with a pan and noticed that he placed a pork chop on top if as it heated up. Cinder felt all the more excited and her mouth started to water. So with that, she decided to raid his fridge again.

"Did you clean the blood?" Jaune asked as the fridge door open, but he didn't take his eyes away from the pan.

"No, not yet." Cinder took another soda.

"How do you like your pork chops?" Jaune looked over his shoulder.

"Tender on the outside and chewy in the inside." Cinder opened her soda.

"You got it." Jaune looked away. "I heard last week that the current death tolls is about ready to reach four hundred. Has there been any real progress?" Jaune had his specula flip the chop over on the other side. The grease sizzled and a few drops of grease jumped out to his left hand. It wasn't anything serious but it did annoy him.

"According to Velvet, it should be around the three hundred and fifty range." Cinder said before she took a sip out of her drink.

As the pork chops cooked, Jaune took out a knife then started to shave some carrots.

"It'll take me about an hour before I finish. There are some chips in the living room to hold you over before I'm done."

"Sure." Cinder shrugged.

49 Minutes Later

The door opened up as a person used a housekey to enter. Katt and Cinder were already on it with their guns at the ready. Neither of them took the time to warn Jaune in the kitchen.

"Take it easy ladies. It's just me." Sky Lark kept his hands in view as the two women lowered their weapons.

"Hey there Jaune." Sky called out as he walked passed the kitchen.

"Sup' Lark." Jaune stirred some watered cauliflower and broccoli in a small pot.

"Hey Jaune." Sky took off his coat and entered the living room. "Katt."

"Sky." The two spoke coldly to one another.

"Look I know I would love to have some chit chat but I'll get right to the point." Sky Lark said with enough time for Cinder to enter the room.

"We learned very little over the past month. Some of the leads on people are completely false are dead. We just so happen to get some real info for a change thanks to Fox. We've interrogated the known mercenary Grace and she doesn't know anything."

"That's just what she wants us to believe." Cinder added out of spite.

"I know you two have a vendetta against each other but don't let this get to your head. There has been a development about three days ago. Neptune of the Vacuo branch was able to transfer some information that an agent of his died for."

"Who was it?" Cinder asked.

"A man named Sage."

"Condition?" Katt spoke up.

"He was discovered to have three major cuts on his left leg and had seven bullets in his body. Four of which appear to have been added to him even after he was officially dead. What killed him was a clean cut to his femoral artery. He hid a small capsule message which he buried in a gunshot wound that was on his upper right chest."

"What is the message?" Katt leaned forward.

Sky put his hands in his pockets. "It read that there is something going down at the Huntsmen banquet in two days. The rest of the message has been saturated with blood and became completely illegible." Sky moved his hands out of his pockets. "We're being asked to infiltrate the party and see what kind of information we can dig up. It just said there is a deal going on and that is all we have to go off of. Neptune's team has been denied to do the assignment because their superiors ordered them to take care of a side missions a different agent of their completely screwed up."

"That would rule out of us calling support because an event like this would cause too much suspicion and compromise the mission." Katt concluded.

"Yeah, you two are going to infiltrate the building, check all leads and secure the info. But there is another problem with this."

"Like what?"

"Normally we would replace the work force with our implanted security but this event is completely private and all of the current employees hired for the event will be suspicious on who we could send in. We don't want to risk it to fail. That means that I have to go in the as well to provide support in the crowd."

"Great. This should be easy." Katt smiled.

"Not likely. It's expected that a few hundred people, wealthy and supporters to the Huntsmen and Huntress programs will be there. It could take us hours to scan over the crowd to possibly find anything significant. A shadow raid is out of the question, too much at stake here to risk it." Sky Lark.

"So you're saying we'll be low on man power?" Katt frowned.

"Do you want the truth or the lie?" Sky Lark mirrored her expression.

"Truth."

"We're expected to fail with and so command refuses to offer any assistance."

"Well fuck me sideways." Katt rubbed her forehead.

The three of them fell silent.

"Dinner's ready." Jaune called out as he held a tray in his hand with food to every agent in the room. Jaune placed a plate in Sky's hands, and the rest on the coffee table for Katt and Cinder. Jaune went back the kitchen to get his own food and drink. Jaune sat down on his floor and felt excited to take a bite out of the food.

"Hey Jaune." Cinder glanced at him.

"Yeah?" Jaune started to cut a piece off of his pork chop.

"You're going to help us on a mission in a couple of days."

Jaune dropped his metal fork, looked up and his eyes widened. "Say what?"

 **Yay, I hope all of you like the update. I'm sorry it took so long again but life and college stuff take control of my time now. I'll still work on this story. Thank you for sticking around with me for this long. Have a great day.**

 **Thehidden6lade:** Spoiler question. Auto-avoidance activate. ;-) I love me some pizza, especially with olives. Usually coka cola. That's my favorite drink. Thanks.

 **Benthino:** I love it when there is an array of weapons. Yeah, that part was a blast to write. I wanted to make a MGS reference that Blake likes to use cardboard boxes but I wrote it out with Velvet being a voice in her ear instead. I'm glad you like it.

 **The Flippant Writer:** Thank you for voicing your thoughts on the story. I would really love to explain more of my own position but I want to avoid giving away any potential spoilers to the story. So I'll just leave it at this, the same could be said about Jaune in the series itself about him being a faceless extra. He offers not too much to the plot and he exists to be the everyman to the story. Here's the thing about me and I love everyman characters.

 **ahmadkay2:** Thank you for your support. I'm a dude. I guess it's probably my profile pic is what causes the confusion. Have a wonderful day.


	11. Chapter 11, Can you fly, Bobby?

The shattered Moon shined brightly for the city below. The lights flickered about of orange and blue as the windows reflected said lights. A car went along a narrow highway with a sparse amount of traffic. Jaune stared out of the window on the passenger side. The driver was Sky Lark, who had a blank stare at the streets. It was the kind of zoned out expression of doing something one was so familiar with, expression is the last thing on a person's mind.

' _What does he think about_?' The blonde pondered while he closed his eyes lids and rubbed them for a moment. Still felt nice, but instantly felt irritated when he finished.

"We're almost there." Sky bumped Jaune's shoulder.

Jaune opened his eyes to see several dark patches and blinked several times. His vision returned as the building ahead had several blue lights beam from the outside. Half the lights were placed obnoxiously to illuminate the banner flags of each Kingdom. Dozens of limousines and expensive cars lined had formally dressed attendants greet the reporters.

"This is where you get off." Sky pulled the car. They were about a block and a half away.

 _Click_.

Jaune exited the car. Before he could walk away, the window of the passenger side rolled down.

"We need you to get Cinder a way inside."

Jaune responded with a thumbs up.

"You'll be fine, it's just recon."

Jaune heard the window roll up with a kick of the engine. The caretaker kept his eyes forward then started his walk. He was dressed in a black suit with a red button up shirt with a white tie. From the house, Jaune borrowed a spare suit in case a male agent needed one.

The blonde extended his right index and middle finger out then applied pressure just above the earlobe.

"I'm here." Jaune did not recognize anyone amongst the crowd that swamped the entrance. "Hello?"

He moved his hand away from his ear when he approached the street corner. He looked to his left and right for incoming traffic. He circled around on the left side to avoid traffic. His left foot placed itself on the pavement on the other side. He looked back down and felt a hand press down on his left shoulder. By reflex, Jaune snapped in that same direction.

"Relax." Cinder used her hand on his shoulder to offer support for herself. Jaune tilted to his left and noticed that she was in the middle of readjusting a strap on one of the heels she wore. Not the kind when it was like six inches tall, just one that appeared to be about an inch and a half.

"How's the suit?" She asked.

"A little tight around the collar." Jaune tugged on it a little.

"Suck it up. We're on the clock." Cinder fixed the strap at her heel and walked on her own.

"We're in a time crunch tonight?"

"Well, no." Cinder half-cocked her head. She wore a charcoal black dress that did not have sleeves. Along the edges of the dress, several sewed-in lines curved out and around the dress, like leafless vines. From the forearm to the elbow was an arm warmer. For added grip, the arm warmers had excess fabric so the user can secure it around their middle or ring finger. In the case for Cinder, she opted out to keep her fingers free. From her torso on down, was several reflecting stones layered in the dress itself. Her heels clapped against the concrete with every step.

"We can't go through the front entrance." Cinder and Jaune stopped about a hundred feet away from the building. A car beam made the sidewalk become visible for several seconds while the shadows of the two curved in the light. With a blink, Jaune gave eye contact to Cinder.

"Because there are spies that will make a move on us?" He shot in the dark.

"No, we have to keep a low profile. That and this dress..." Cinder pulled on the shoulder straps. "Is cheap. Hardly worth the trouble… The Agency still shops on a budget." Cinder strode onward and the blonde followed suit.

"Why not, bring your own dress?" Jaune said as they continued to walk on the outside of the building. Cinder glanced at Jaune then looked back toward the building ahead.

"Give me a stealth gear any day." Cinder retorted as she finished adjusting her heel.

"Okay, there are about three emergency ladders on the outside with a fire escape on the north end. I just need you to help lift me to one of the platforms so we can…" Cinder checked her right. Just empty space where Jaune should be. She scanned around to see Jaune about forty feet away talking to a man at a window.

Jaune moved his arms apart. "Hey man. Can you help a guy out?"

"You're not supposed to be back here." The person Jaune spoke to was a young guy like himself but part of the kitchen staff based on the observation of the white uniform and leaned out to hear Jaune better.

"Look, I hate to do this to you. Can you let us in?"

"Fuck no!" The worker shook his head and leaned away.

"Wait, wait, WAIT!" Jaune kept himself to a loud whisper. "See that lady over there?"

The worker looked in the direction Jaune pointed him in. About fifty feet away, Cinder stared back at them with a confused glare.

"She's here for the party to meet some people. I'm just the poor bastard who has to help her. It would really be awesome of you let us in."

"She your girlfriend?"

"No."

"Pity." The worker leaned away.

"Alright!" Jaune waved at him to lean back out. "She's a reporter for a small time scroll net news outlet. I told her I could get her inside…" Jaune nodded. "I hoped to impress her." Jaune looked back up. "You're my only shot."

.

.

.

"Just wait there." The worker looked over his shoulder.

"You're a life saver." Jaune replied.

Jaune turned around and walked toward Cinder. "What was that about?" Cinder rested her left hand on her hip.

"I bribed a guy to open a door for us." Jaune double checked his suit and straightened out several folds that bugged him.

"How much do you owe?"

"Two hundred lien." Jaune reached for his pocket to get the money ready.

"Well, we're inside. Keep us posted very fifteen minutes or so and report what you've collected. If you don't have anything, you report to us anyway. Also, _no names_ got it?" Cinder checked beneath her arm warmer to tighten a strap to a stiletto blade.

Jaune stared off into space.

"Hey. Did you hear me?"

He shook his head to be brought back to reality. "Yeah, I heard you."

"Say something to show that you understand." Cinder slightly moved the bottom of her dress which revealed her thigh to double check on her weapons. A small pistol with only one spare magazine of ammo with small knives on the other thigh.

"Loud and clear." Jaune patted on his left ankle which had two magazines strapped on his shin.

"Testing, testing." A voice echoed in their ear pieces. "I just received word. Sky Lark is inside and started to check on the patrons. Jaune, do not come in contact with him until you're ordered too. The same goes for interacting with Cinder."

A nearby door unlatched a lock and opened up. The worker from before walked out with several bags of trash in hand and signaled for the two would be guests to enter. Cinder walked passed him while the worker gave a wide grin to Jaune. The blonde did not give eye contact when he stuffed some lien in the guy's chest pocket.

"Take two immediate rights and you'll be in. Good luck." The worker winked.

"…Thanks…" Jaune did not show his teeth in his smile. He turned away and the expression went back to blank.

Cinder led the way while Jaune followed. She pushed a door open to see a hall wrapped in a low golden glow. People in formal clothing all talked amongst themselves. The hall that this event was held in was three stories tall and had railings so the second and third floors could see what's below. A chandelier hung off the center of the room and was supplied the golden glow. The walls had a banner on each of the four core directions that correlated with the directions of the kingdoms. Below, several sprawled out serving tables of food were laid out with bars on each floor. Most of the windows had the blinds cover them and dark enough so it could be difficult to peer in.

"Watch your back." Cinder said and then walked into the crowd. Her eyes immediately widened as she welcomed all of those who gazed at her.

Jaune shrugged as he walked along the edge of the open pathways. The area around him was still wide enough so that about a hundred or so more people could fit. If he was completely honest, the crowd reminded him as if he was walking in a sports stadium. Just that the people were dressed differently.

Every twenty feet or so was a statue or a piece of art related the history for all the Kingdoms. Museums from around Remnant were okay with transporting art in the name of the Vytal Tournament.

Jaune smiled as he saw a photo taken from the Great War. Four men and one woman held the flag of a defeated Kingdom that sought to oppress its neighbors. The Hyperion Kingdom Flag of two crossed sabers as an upside down Claymore, pointed downward at the intersection. The flag had holes and wasn't in the best condition.

Jaune noticed a man walk beside him.

"Like the photo?"

"One of the better ones." Jaune shrugged.

"Not what I usually hear." The voice was deep which had Jaune think of a man that wants to be taken seriously. No overly pronounced words, just simple and to the point. Jaune got a look at the man.

Clearly in his mid to late forties. Grey hair with tea shaped glasses in black suit with a green turtleneck shirt. He had a name tag on his chest that which labeled, **Director Ozpin**. In his hand was a white coffee mug.

"One of my co-workers wanted the Atlas and Mistralan peace talks instead. I figured that this one could help remind some here to appreciate how far the world has changed. Prior to the photo, the former Hyperion Kingdom broke the non-aggression pact and waged a counter offensive"

"Good choice. From what I remember, it was one of the bloodiest battles." Jaune cocked his head. "More soldiers died in the process of pushing Hyperion back than what happened on the attack itself."

"You know a lot about the image." Ozpin took a sip from his mug.

"History buff back when I was in middle school. I used to stay home and watch documentaries all day." Jaune turned to Ozpin. "Back when TV used to play documentaries anyway."

"Not something I hear every day, but still good to know." Ozpin offered his hand. "Professor Ozpin."

"The name tag says Director." Jaune shook his hand. Ozpin's grip was enough to confirm, that Jaune knew that he was with a man that took charge.

"Just a formality for the people who arrange such events." Ozpin and Jaune released their grip.

"Ah okay. My name is…" _Remember, no names._ Jaune wiped his lip. "Myles."

"What brings you to the event?"

"I snuck in." Jaune stated.

Ozpin smirked and took a sip of his drink. "Just don't cause any trouble and I won't have security throw you out."

"Duly noted sir."

"Well enjoy the rest of your time here and do feel free to appreciate the art. Not enough do so these days."

"Gladly." Jaune walked away from the art piece as Ozpin walked in the opposite direction.

One step forward.

 _THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP_

Six steps forward.

 _Thump Thump Thump Thump…_

Ten steps forward.

Jaune stopped in his path for a deep breath. He opened his eyes to see Sky Lark in the distance.

His hair was tied downward so that his cheeks were obscured by his hair and you can only see his face if he looked directly at you. The suit he wore was charcoal black with a silver undershirt and no tie. The guy talked with several patrons and didn't stay long enough to outstay his welcome in conversations. He looked to his left to see Jaune in the crowd. He tilted his head toward the center of the party.

Sky Lark turned around to continue his recon.

 _I guess he wants me to go that way._ Jaune assumed as he walked out onto the floor. He looked around himself and noticed that many of those around him were completely disinterested in him. He shrugged as he paced forward with his hands in his pockets.

Jaune looked at the well-dressed server employees, each of them wore a fake smile or wished they were somewhere else entirely. He looked to his right and saw a drink at the ready. It was soda and Jaune took hold of it and smiled as he turned around.

Several of the people there kept themselves on the outside of the main floor for some reason. Jaune made the claim in his mind that the main floor was for announcements, a dance or an announcement dance. Which was dumb, it felt crowded at times to just to walk around. Jaune paced forward and saw one photo of the first cybernetic human.

"Can you fly Bobby?" Jaune thought out loud. Several seconds later a person walked beside Jaune.

"Clarence… no."

Jaune raised his head and looked at the person next to him. The person was a young man in his late teens or early twenties. He was in a typical black suit with a white button up. His eyes were blue and had overall thin build. Jaune tilted his head as he stared at the guy.

"Isn't the moon wonderful tonight?" Jaune nodded toward one of the windows that was barely opened.

"It's still the daytime." The guy responded. The night life outside shined with the buildings in clear view of the shattered moon. Both of them knew it was the night time outside.

"It's the thought that counts..." Jaune said then narrowed his eyebrows. "Dead or alive…"

"…You're coming with me." The guy finished.

"Yes!" Jaune lifted his right hand up and the guy high fived him. "RoboCop is the best."

"RoboCop is the shit!"

"Dust damn man! Okay, I saw the first one when I was four years old." Jaune beamed.

"Saw it back when I was three." The guy smiled. "I'm Edward Sharksfield"

"Myles Luna." Jaune and Edward shook each other's hand firmly. "Nice to know that there is someone here with great taste in science fiction."

"I know right?" Edward waved at a server. "Favorite scene? Mine was the fight between Robo and Kane."

"For me was when RoboCop learned that Dick Jones put in programming that prevented Robo from fighting back."

"Really?"

"Think about it. It's the first time we see that RoboCop is not on top of things. The shot when we see through his cracked visor for his eye. That signals to us that we see Robo being vulnerable to danger for the first time. From there, Robo is beaten down by Ed 209 and the police service. From, here, RoboCop gets serious on killing or arresting Dick Jones and Clarence." Jaune stated clearly and didn't pause to take a breath.

"I need to rewatch it now." Edward put his left hand on his chin. Jaune took a moment for a deep breath so he can speak again. "I thought tonight was gonna suck. I'm glad I'm here now."

"Same here man. To tell you the truth. I don't like parties much." Jaune noticed a server make her way toward them.

"Oh, what else do you watch?" Edward inquired as he looked into the crowd.

"Mainly action stuff. The Raid, the Tooken trilogy and Spruce Willis movies. There is a bunch more but I can't think of them at the moment." Jaune shrugged then paced forward to follow the path of the carpet.

"Cool, cool. Listen, I got some people I have to talk to on the behalf of my family's business." Edward offered his hand. "Don't be a stranger."

"No problem." Jaune shook his hand.

From there, Sharksfield walked off into the crowd to mingle. Jaune continued to walk around the outer edge of the crowd and made sure not to stare at anyone for a prolonged period of time.

At half an hour in, there was a tall bulky guy that Jaune observed. All he did was raid the oyster snacks and the guy decided to eat half the platter. Other than that, he returned to the crowd to meet with his family. Nothing of importance for Jaune to consider.

There was this woman that Jaune noticed that behaved a little differently than the other guests. She was a kleptomaniac, he saw her take some of the shiny pieces of silverware from the tables and hid them in her purse. Oh man, she was a pro by the fact that she never nervously scanned her surroundings. Every other ten to twenty minutes, a new piece of silverware was taken. Jaune counted that the woman pocketed four spoons, six forks and one butter knife.

Jaune continued that process for about an hour until a transmission came in from Sky.

"Hey Jaune. Not that I don't think you're doing bad or anything. But I think I spotted a potential target. I informed Cinder by word of mouth, she'll transfer the information to you. I'll be on the upper floor continuing the scan of the guests. Don't answer me, just head to the second level bar, it has a Soda dispenser." Sky Lark stated as he was at the third floor railing and looked down to the area below. Jaune looked up and saw Sky Lark and the two only exchanged glances.

Jaune did what he was told of course, he didn't have anything better to do at that moment. His current perp was someone who happened to be a Dentist that liked to claim that she was a legit doctor… _People these days_. Jaune mentally shook his head as he took a seat at the bar.

"What's your poison?" The bartender prepped for the order.

"Caffeinated water please. Preferably a dark drink." Jaune's forearms rested on the bar as he stared at the various alcohol beverages. The cheap stuff on the bottom and supposed good stuff higher up. The taller bottles were placed on the far left and right ends as the short bottles went along the center. No matter which side one would be at the bar. Their attention will go to the flag of the Vale.

"Jaune?" A soft and lovely voice called out to him.

"Fuck _me_." The blonde whispered as he chugged the rest of his drink before he turned around.

A young woman within a sleeveless maroon dress stood before him. Her long flowing hair was tied back into the long ponytail that only complimented her dress. A golden crown rested along her forehead with two chains drooping down that gave the appearance of earrings. Her bright Emerald eyes blinked at Jaune.

"Hey Pyrrha." Jaune waved at the bartender then pointed at the empty glass. The bartender took the hint.

"I mean, you're here." She moved her arms apart.

"Keeping a low profile." Jaune looked back at the bar.

"How long has it been?" Pyrrha asked as she smiled. She slightly opened her arms up to signify a hug.

"Three years." Jaune patted her shoulder. Pyrrha lowered her arms. "I heard on the news that you're doing well in the Tournaments."

"Comes with the profession. But I don't want to talk about journalism. Where have you been?"

"Took a job in a comic book store for a time and moved out of my parents place. I've been living on my own ever since, you?" Jaune tapped his left index finger at the bar counter. He did not apply enough force to make the tapping loud either.

"Just training, academics and traveling." Pyrrha shrugged.

"Here you are sir." The bartender moved Jaune's soda close enough for him to grab.

"Soda will help lead to high blood pressure." Pyrrha chuckled.

"It's better than getting drunk." Jaune took a sip of his drink.

"How's Samantha? The last I've heard of her, she was on a scholarship for a college in Atlas." Pyrrha smiled.

"Quite well, us Arcs always steal the show." Jaune laughed as he took another sip of his drink. Pyrrha stepped to her left to allow other visitors to easily get passed her. Jaune's drink fizzed and bubbled as he took a big gulp for the lovely burn to race down his throat.

"Hey Jaune." The blonde immediately turned to the person who joined the conversation.

It was Cinder.

"Um, hello. I'm Pyrrha Nikos." Pyrrha looked at Jaune and back to Cinder.

Jaune stepped away from the bar.

"This is Ember Nightshade. She's a co-worker at the new place I go to now. She's here on business and I just tagged along." Jaune said before Cinder could speak. She had an overall blank expression.

"I see." Pyrrha offered her hand to Cinder.

"That match with Ruby Rose. Quite the fight." Cinder pointed out as the two shook hands.

"Thank you. Ruby's scythe always gave her amazing range."

"The way you parried her strikes is what saved you." Cinder smiled. "You could have ended the match sooner had you went on the offensive more. Ruby knew that you wouldn't go for the take down, in other words, she wanted to wear you down. A well placed shield bash with an assault could have ended her… easy."

Pyrrha paused in silence.

"Well this was fun. Good luck in the future Pyrrha." Jaune cut between them and walked away with Cinder.

"Bye Jaune." Pyrrha watched the two walk away as an important patron walked to her to start a conversation.

Jaune did not look back then leaned over to Cinder. "The fuck?"

"Orders were for you not to call attention to yourself. Not to be friends with every damn person here."

"You got your way. I got my way." Was all that Jaune could say to her.

The two were deep enough into the crowd that Pyrrha was no longer visible.

"Got a bit chatty there." Cinder rolled her shoulders for his hands to lose their grip. Jaune recognized that cold expression… roll the dice or chance the consequence at his own risk.

"She's… my ex." Jaune grimaced. "Can we just leave it at that?"

Cinder raised an eyebrow. "Whatever you say."

The two walked toward a secluded corner while the party behind them continued to glow in the golden lights. Laughter and chatter hummed in unison.

 **Well hi everybody… I know it's been a while. Welp, let me get to the point. College sucks, between my fan fics, getting my creative writing certificate as well as a bunch of family crap that happened for the summer. I just didn't feel creative and this feeling would have plagued my current works. It's more of a personal issue that I have when I want to make posts. No matter how many times I rewrote this chapter, what truly matters is the end product. I'm back and still plan to work on this project.**

 **The amount of gratitude I have is still the same. Thank you so much for reading.**

 **Benthino:** I bet if Jaune met me, he would call me a jerk. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

 **Ghost-407:** Jaune is caught between a rock and a hard place… LOL.

 **Guest:** (Auto avoidance protocol enacted)

 **AdrianCabanillas:**

 **sdphantom10:** True dat!

 **DMD Hanafin:** Comes with having any job. There are assholes that are part of it.

 **.1:** (Auto avoidance protocol enacted)


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